High School Sweethearts 2: Surprise, Surprise
by JMDeaton
Summary: Jace is still busy with trying to get the business going, and Clary is getting ready to start school. But when she refuses to have a birthday party, he decides to throw her one anyway. Will he be able to juggle it all? How will she react? Will there be any other surprises?
1. Get It Started

**If you haven't read High School Sweethearts you should NOT read this one until you do.**

 **I'd just like to say:**

 **1\. This story does and will have profanity, sexual content and may very well include straight up sexual scenes. I haven't decided just yet and I never know when my mind may just take me there.**

 **2\. I do not own The Mortal Instruments.**

 **3\. I do not own the songs that will be used in this story.**

 **4\. To who ever takes the time to read this, I hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

 **I know it's taken me a little while to get this up. I had this chapter done shortly after the first High School Sweethearts but then I was stupid enough to leave my laptop where my one year old could get her hands on it and it poofed. So when I got the time I ended up having to rewrite the whole thing, and it didn't come out word for word as the first time but I believe I covered it all, just in a different way. Okay, I'm rambling so I'm going to stop.**

 **O** **kay so here we go everybody. Part Two, I hope you're excited cause honestly I'm nervous as hell.**

* * *

 **Jace**

I open my eyes and stretch with a yawn. I'm not looking forward to another day of searching for a building so that we can _finally_ get somewhere with the shop. I am however enjoying the fact that once again, I'm waking up to this beautiful red head asleep with her head on my chest and my arms around her. I know it's been a little over a month and a half, but I still occasionally find myself thinking this is a dream.

I kiss the top of Clary's head and she stirs with a moan.

"Morning beautiful." I say sweetly as her eyelashes flutter against my chest.

"Morning handsome." She moans happily as she bends her head back with a sleepy smile on her face, to look up at me. "Do we have to get out of bed today?"

"Unfortunately," I say with a sigh. "We both have a lot to do today. You have to go get enrolled at the school and me, Jon, and Alec have to go check out another possible location."

"Another one?" She asks with a sigh. "What about the last one? I thought you said it was big enough for everything and that you liked it."

I know she's getting just as tired as I am, of what seems to be an everlasting process. I mean how couldn't she be, it's taking away from the time we have before school starts back. Her and Izzy use to come with us at first, until they got tired of all the shop talk. When they finally had enough they decided that they were going to spend the rest of the time they had at the beach or doing whatever else they decided to do. It _really_ sucks, that I can't be spending that time with her, but I know that in the end it will all be worth it. Or at least I hope it will.

"It was and I did, until they got back to us with the price. They wanted more money for it than what the space was actually worth." I explain.

"Do you think that you guys will ever find a place big enough, that you all like, and is worth the price?" She asks exasperatedly with her eyebrows raised.

"Well, I'd like to think we will." I place a kiss on her forehead. "Now enough shop talk. What kind of party do you want for your birthday?"

With everything going on I haven't even had a chance to plan Clary's twenty-second birthday party. I really should have started a week ago, especially since birthdays are a pretty big deal with our gang and her birthday is fast approaching. I mean, I only have days until it's here now.

She rolls over on top of me, her legs straddling my hips, and with her hands on each side of my head, holding herself up, she looks me directly in the eyes . "Well, actually I don't want a party this year. I just want dinner with you, your mom, and the gang."

"Why? We've always had a party for your birthday." I say confusedly with my eyebrows furrowed together and my hands on her thighs.

"I just don't want one this year." She says shrugging one shoulder. "I was thinking maybe we could all just get together for a meal at The Real Italian. It's been awhile since we've been able to do something like that."

"We could do that and still have a party to celebrate afterwards." I say assuredly with my eyebrows raised.

"No, just dinner is fine." She says shaking her head slightly. "Everybody has to much to do already, and nobody needs a hangover while doing it."

"We don't have to drink." I say reassuringly.

"The gang at a party and nobody drinking," She says with a laugh. "Now that's funny."

"Okay, good point." I say with a chuckle. "We could always limit the amount of alcohol then."

She laughs. "You're just full of jokes today, aren't you?"

"Always." I say proudly with a smile.

She rolls her eyes playfully. "True."

I wrap my arms around her, with her still straddling me, and flip her over onto the bed causing her to shriek with a laugh. I pin her to the bed with my body as she laughs. "You're going to be stubborn about this, aren't you?"

"About what?" She asks innocently while trying to hide a smile.

"You know what I'm talking about," I say with my eyebrows raised. "So you can quit playing like you don't."

"Jace, I just don't want a party this year." She says sweetly. She leans up and kisses my cheek. "Maybe next year, okay?"

"I guess." I say with a sigh.

"Good. Now get off me so we can both get ready and you can get something to eat before you have to leave." She says decisively.

"I don't want to." I say mischievously as I start tickling her with my right hand, as my left has her hands pinned down above her head.

"Jace, stop I have to pee!" She says in laughter as she tries to squirm underneath me.

"So." I say as I laugh at her failed attempts to get away.

"You're an ass!" She says laughing still.

"Yeah but you love me, and my ass." I say confidentially with a smile as I quit tickling her.

"Yes I do. But sometimes I have to ask myself why." She says jokingly. "Now come on, we really got to start getting ready."

I groan as I roll off her. "Fine. Just take all the fun out of my day."

"You can tickle Jonny." She says as she stands up.

I watch her with raised eyebrows. "He's not as cute as you though."

"So you mean to tell me if he was cuter you'd tickle him?" She says over her shoulder as she reaches the closet.

"No!" I say scrunching my nose up. "I'm just saying he's not you."

She laughs as she grabs a shirt. "You keep telling yourself that's what you mean."

"Now who's full of jokes today?" I ask with a smile.

She looks over at me from the dresser with a smirk. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Uh huh, surrre, you don't." I say with a chuckle.

"I don't." She says in mock hurt, placing her hands that now have a tank top and shorts in them across her chest. "Now quit being lazy and get out of bed already."

"What if I refuse? Will you punish me?" I ask raising my eyebrows up and down a few times.

"Oh, I'll punish you alright but you won't like it." She says as she puts a hand on her hip and raises her eyebrows.

I jump out of the bed quickly. "I'm up, I'm up! No need to be so hasty."

She laughs. "Get ready then."

"Okay you win this round, but the next shall be mine." I say with raised eyebrows as I reach her.

She leans up and places a small kiss to my lips. "We shall see about that."

"Yes we shall." I say as she turns around and I playfully smack her ass as she begins to walk towards the bathroom.

"You better watch it Mr Herondale." She says warningly as she points over her shoulder with her right hand while she continues to walk away.

"I'm not scared." I say bravely.

She stops at the bathroom door and looks at me with a raised eyebrows and a smirk. "You should be."

I shake my head slightly with a smile and then pull a drawer out, grabbing a pair of blue jeans out. I go to the closet, grab a white tank top and a blue t-shirt; in case we find a building and need to talk to somebody today when I hear the shower come on.

I slide open the shower door with a sly grin. "Can I join you?"

"Only if you can keep your hands to yourself today. We don't need another repeat of yesterday." She says with her head tilted back under the water, shampoo running down her bare/naked body as her hands are in her hair rinsing the rest out.

"I can be late again." I say simply with a smirk.

She brings her head down where she can see me. "No you can't cause I don't want to hear Jon and Alec's complaining for the fourth day in a row."

"Okay," I say pouting. "I'll go take a shower in the room next door."

She chuckles as she grabs her green loofah. "You just can't keep your hands to yourself can you?"

"No but neither can you." I say matter-of-factly while I still ogle her as she puts soap on the loofah.

"Go on!" She says with a laugh as she starts washing her left arm. "I'll see you when your done or meet you downstairs."

"Hey." I say bringing her gaze back to me. "I love you, Clary!"

"I love you too, Jace!" She says sweetly with a big smile.

I sigh as I close the shower door with a smile.

I begin to walk away from the bathroom and towards our bedroom door thinking how lucky I am to have such an amazing woman. A woman that makes me happier than anything else ever could. A woman that is determined to make sure I succeed even if it aggravates her at times. A woman that worries about not only mine but everyone's happiness, supports them in every way she possibly can, and wants them to succeed. She's always more worried about everyone else than she is herself. That's when it hits me, she may not want a party this year cause of everything going on but I'm going to make sure she gets one anyway. I'll probably have to enlist some help but as of right now, it's...

 _Time to get things started._

* * *

 **Clary**

"JONNY!" I yell from the kitchen.

"WHAT?" He yells back from upstairs.

"TIME TO EAT!" I shout as I make him and Jace a plate.

Jace appears beside me setting down a cup of coffee for me on the island counter as he holds one for himself in his left hand and kisses the side of my head.

"WHAT IS IT?" Jon yells and I hear his bedroom door shut.

"FOOD!" I reply sarcastically.

"IT'S CEREAL, ISN'T IT?" Jon shouts down the stairs, I can hear his footsteps as he walks down them.

Jace chuckles and inhales deeply. "It smells great!"

"Thank you!" I say with a smile. "Will you get me the open jelly from the refrigerator?"

"No problem." He replies as he snatches a piece of bacon and I slap at his hand. "Hey, it was on my plate."

"How do you know it's your plate? It could be Jonny's." I tease.

"Cause mine has syrup next to it." He says as I hear the refrigerator open.

"That don't mean anything." I say with a laugh. I move the syrup over to the other plate. "See?"

"Ha ha ha, smartass." He says with a chuckle as he sets the grape jelly down on the countertop.

"Damn Little Sister it smells good in here!" Jon says from behind me, to my right.

I look over my shoulder at him. "Thank you! Now come eat."

"What did you cook or did you go get it?" Jon teases as he approaches the island.

"Neither." I say simply trying to hide the smile tugging at the corners of my lips. "I dug it out a trash can and heated it up just for you."

"You are so mean today." Jace says with a laugh.

I shrug. "Here you butt monkeys go." I slide them their plates. "You have trashcan bacon, trashcan pancakes, and toast."

"What no trashcan toast?" Jon asks with a half smile and an eyebrow raised.

"No I figured Jace could handle that much while I reheated everything else up." I say trying to hold a straight face.

Jon looks over at Jace, who's in the process of bringing another piece of bacon to his mouth. "Did she really dig this stuff out of the garbage?"

Jace bust out laughing loudly while shaking his head. "No, she was cooking when I came downstairs."

"That don't mean anything." Jon says seriously.

"Dude, I threw away the empty packages from the bacon, _and_ put the leftover batter in the refrigerator." Jace explains still laughing at Jon. "I can't believe you'd actually think she'd really do that."

"He doesn't. He's just trying to see how far he can take this before I laugh at him for it." I say as I lift my cup to my mouth.

"You're still doing that crap Jonny?" Jace asks him in disbelief with his eyebrows raised.

"I'll probably never stop either." Jon says with a shrug. "Besides she still does it to me too."

"And you say I'm a mess." Jace says shaking his head slightly as he brings a bite of pancake to his mouth.

"Well you are a mess." I say with a smile.

"Who's a mess?" I hear Izzy asks.

I turn to look just as she rounds the corner by the staircase.

"Jace." I tell her. I shrug. "Well both of them actually. I didn't know when you'd get up so I didn't make you any food. Do you want?"

"No don't it came out a trashcan." Jon says quickly with a mouthful of pancake.

Izzy looks at him dumbfounded. "I'm not falling for that, _this_ time at least."

"This time?" Jace asks putting jelly on his toast.

" _Yes_. They got me like that, about nine months ago, over a steak." Izzy says dramatically.

"Do I even want to know how?" Jace asks shaking his head.

"Clary was my mannequin for a project I had, when we got hungry and I pulled the steak out the refrigerator, Jon said Clary dug it out the trash. It turned out she told him that so he wouldn't eat it cause she wanted it." Izzy explains briefly.

That's the one time he did believe me. He had just come in for his two weeks off, and said he was hungry. I told him to go eat but when he asked how old the steak was I told him not to eat it because I had threw it in the trash before I decided I wanted to save it. I really did accidentally knock it in the trash however, it was in the plastic storage container but I wasn't telling him that.

"Yeah, she's always trying to starve me." Jon chimes in.

"Oh yeah, I can see how she tries to starve you." Izzy says while nodding her head, and snatching a piece of bacon off Jon's plate.

"Hey!" Jon says incredulously as she puts it in her mouth with a smile.

"Izzy there's plenty of bacon cooked." I say pointing to the glass bowl sitting an arms length from me. "Eat up."

She grabs a few slices out the bowl. "Aren't you going to eat?"

"I already did." I say simply as I start towards the sink.

"When?" Jon asks in disbelief with food in his mouth.

"While she was cooking." Jace manages to say with a mouthful as well.

I put my empty coffee cup to the sink, and turn to walk back over to them.

"I always snack to much while I cook, so by the time it's all done I'm already full." I say complaining about myself.

"So what are you two going to do today?" Jon asks curiously.

Izzy looks up at me as she reaches in the bowl, and I shrug.

"Well we've got enrollment today, and I have to check in with a professor but after that I don't know." Izzy says before taking a bite of bacon. "Why?"

"I was thinking if you two get done in time maybe y'all might want to meet up for lunch." Jon replies bringing another bite to up to his mouth.

"I'll be done in time." I say happily.

If it means getting to spend more time with Jace and even my brother, I'm all for it. At least as long as-

"No business talk right?" Izzy questions him sternly.

It's like she's reading my mind. I mean I want the guys to succeed and I'm glad they're happy about it but it seems like all they ever want to talk about when they're together. It's always this location, that location, we need this equipment, this type of insurance, we have to get this done before we can do that, how much this or that's going to cost...blah, blah, blah.

I'll just be glad when it's all said and done. I know it sounds mean but it's the same things over and over again, and a person can only hear it so much before they get fed up with it. Not to mention that they can't seem to agree on a building. It's either not where this one wants it, or just doesn't like the layout, or it's not big enough like they want it, or there's even been a few that were _to big_. Mentally, I'm rolling my eyes at them.

"No business talk." Jace says as he sets his fork in his plate. "We'll talk about y'alls classes or something else."

"Okay then we'll _try_ to be done in time." Izzy says grabbing a paper towel. "But no promises."

I watch Jace as he picks up his plate and coffee cup. He looks up at the clock and begins to walk over to the sink.

"I'll get that." I say with a smile as he begins rinsing his plate off.

He looks over his shoulder at me with a smile and winks. "I can get it."

I roll my eyes at him playfully and shake my head slightly.

He knows I don't mind since I'm not the one going to be heading out really soon like he is but he still insist on helping whatever way possible. He's great like that, I just hope it never changes. I mean I know life will most likely get busier before it slows down but I hope that he'll always find ways to help, even if it's the simplest thing as rinsing his plate off before it goes in the dishwasher.

DING DONG!

"COME IN!" Me, Jace, and Jon, all shout simultaneously as Izzy says, "Alec's here."

Jace walks up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, resting his hands on my stomach. I look up at him lovingly with a smile and he smiles back at me. He leans down and places a small soft kiss to my lips. Then we both look at the entranceway to the living room, as we all wait for Alec to appear.

Alec walks into the kitchen with a smile on his face.

"I've got a good feeling about today!" He says excitedly.

"That's what you said yesterday." I point out to him.

"Yeah but I think we're closer today then we were yesterday." He says with certainty.

"I'll believe it when I see it." Izzy grumbles with annoyance.

"Well," Jon says as he puts his plate in the sink. "Let me make me a cup of coffee and we'll head out."

"Already on the counter ready to go, made just the way you like it." I say with a chuckle.

"What did you do to it?" He asks suspiciously with his eyes slightly narrowed at me.

"Why do you think I did something to it?" I ask with a laugh.

"Cause you laughed when you said it." He says as he narrows his eyes more at me.

"I swear I didn't do anything to it." I say putting my right hand over my heart.

He scoffs. "This time you mean."

As he walks past me and Jace, I reach my right hand out and playfully hit him on his right arm which causes Jace to chuckle in my ear.

"Guess that means it's time to go. See you at lunch?" Jace asks hopefully.

I turn around in his arms. "I sure hope so. I'll text you when we're done at the school."

"Okay." He says as I lean up to kiss him. As I pull back he makes a low growling noise. "You make leaving difficult."

"Good, that's how I know you'll be coming home." I say teasingly yet proudly with a smile.

"I'll always come home to you." He says matter-of-factly with loving pride.

"I know." I say sweetly with a smile. I look over my shoulder at the others. "I guess you guys better get going, huh?"

"Yeah," Alec says with a slight shrug. "We got a lot of ground to cover and I found an estate auction in the newspaper that list some of the equipment we'll need, so it'll be worth checking out too."

"Cool deal!" Jon says excitedly. "We'll be able to get some things cheaper then we've found."

" _If_ it's in decent shape." Jace adds in.

"Exactly." Alec agrees simply with a nod.

I turn my head back to look at Jace. "I'll see you later then."

"You better believe it." He says with a smile. He leans down and gives me a quick kiss. "I love you!"

"I love you too!" I say with a smile. "Good luck."

"Thanks." He says as he starts to pull his arms away from me. "I'm going to need it."

After we've all said our goodbyes, the guys start to head out the front door talking shop talk, _again_. First one out the door is Alec with Jon hot on his heels, and last is Jace; who doesn't really seem as into it today as usual, he looks as if something else is on his mind which makes me wonder what it is.

"BE CAREFUL!" I shout before the door closes completely behind them.

Jace looks back over his shoulder and winks at me with a half smile. "We will."

I plop down on the couch and wait until I hear Jace's truck start up. Then I look over at Izzy who's sitting to my left with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Did Jace seem like his mind was somewhere else to you?" I ask her curiously with my eyebrows furrowed together.

"He was probably just thinking about that auction." Izzy suggests as she turns to look at me.

"I don't think that's it. He was acting like that while he helped with breakfast." I explain.

"Maybe he's just stressing over it all, I know Jon is." She says with a shrug.

"Oh I know it's getting to all of them." I say with certainty. "That's why when Jace said something about throwing me a party for my birthday I told him I just wanted a nice dinner with everybody."

"Well you know mom won't be able to make it, cause she's working on that big trial that starts that day." Izzy says as if she's reminding me.

"Yeah I know," I say sadly with a sigh. "That's why I told him, his mom and the gang. "Everybody is just so busy lately that I thought it would just be nice to get everybody together for a peaceful dinner."

"I know what you mean." Izzy sighs. "Well you ready to get our day started?"

"I don't think I really have a choice, now do I?" I ask with a small laugh.

"Nope." She says popping her p.

"Meet you at my car in twenty then." I say as I stand up.

"Alright." She says simply.

I begin to walk towards the stairs to go to my bedroom so I can grab my wallet and whatever else I may decide I need before we get back. I make it halfway up the stairs when I sigh outwardly, well I guess it's time to...

 _Get this day started._

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed! Mwah!**

 **Let me know what you think in the reviews. I can't wait to hear, or technically read, what you have to say.**

 **Allieanna your wait is over, lol. I hope you like this story as much as the first. It's different, is all I'm gonna say. Mwah!**

 **Mrs Jace Wayland-Herondale here's the start. We need to get Chapter 2 of Sweet Redemption up soon or did we not finish it.**

 **My forever guest b*k*a KB well I hope you can get a new phone and account soon. I'd love to know that you're actually getting to read this.**


	2. College Sucks

**Song(s) mentioned or used: Blake Shelton - God Gave Me You**

* * *

 **Clary**

As I sit here in the coffee shop on campus I can't help constantly checking the time. It's nearly lunch time and we are still not done getting everything done before we leave. Why is it time always flies when you don't want it to, but drags by so incredibly slowly when you want the time to hurry up? It's so annoying.

"Hey Mag-Pie!" I greet him with a smile as he walks over to me.

"Hi Biscuit!" He says with a smile. He looks around. "Where's Pudding?"

"She had a meeting with a professor, something to do with an early assignment." I tell him. "You still working on your enrollment?"

" _No,_ I'm finished _finally_!" He says dramatically with a smile.

"So what are you fixing to do then?" I ask with a laugh.

"I was actually fixing to grab a cappuccino and head over to the bookstore." He says as he crosses his arms, pointing in two different directions. "I could use some company, seeing as how you don't seem to be doing anything of importance. Want to join me?"

"Sure!" I say excitedly. Anything's better than sitting here bored as I wait. "I just need to text Izzy and let her know where I'm gonna be so she doesn't think I left her."

"She wouldn't think that." He says with a chuckle.

"Probably not but we did say we'd meet up here when we were both done." I say as I stand up. "So either way I need to let her know."

"That's true." He says as he stands. "On a totally different subject, did you know Todd's in?"

"NO! When did he get back in?" I ask with an eyebrow raised, as we begin to walk over to the counter.

"Some time yesterday." He says with a shrug. "I ran into him on campus earlier."

"Well that snake! He didn't say anything to me or Izzy about it, and we just talked to him two days ago." I say suspiciously.

"I didn't know either." He says with a shrug. "If that makes you feel any better."

Just then an idea hits me and I laugh mischievously with an evil grin.

"Oh hell!" Magnus says as if he knows what I was thinking.

"What?" I ask sweetly as I look over at him.

He grabs his cup of cappuccino off the counter. "I know that look."

"What look?" I ask innocently.

"That look." He says as he points at me. "That look means you have an evil plan."

"Evil plan? Me?" I ask in mock hurt as I put my hands to my chest. "Now would I do something like that?"

"Yes!" He replies simply with a small laugh.

"Not me." I say innocently in mock hurt.

"Yes you!" He says shaking his head yes.

"You have me confused with somebody else." I say as I shake my head slightly with a grin.

"Oh no I don't." He says shaking his head. "Just make sure if I'm not there that you video it for me."

"Deal!" I say with a laugh.

"See I told you!" He says with a laugh as he pokes my right cheek with his left index finger.

"I didn't say I had one, I just said I'd video it if you weren't there. That could be _anytime_ in the future." I point out.

"That is true but I know better." He says matter-of-factly.

I glance over at him. "Are you suppose to meet the guys for lunch today?"

He shakes his head no. "Alec asked me this morning but I have to get to work as soon as I'm done here. Nice way to change the subject by the way."

"You noticed that did ya?" I say with a laugh. " _Anyway_ , that sucks that you've got to work. Me and Izzy are suppose to meet them if we're done in time."

"Well I don't think y'all are gonna make it." He pauses. "It's already 12:25. Who did she have to meet with?"

""Professor Ass-Hat"" I say using my figures to make air quotes over the name Izzy used. "Whoever that is."

"Ah, Professor Warren. You might as well get comfortable, I have a feeling you're going to be here til after 2." He says nonchalantly.

"You're joking right?" I asks incredulously.

"No that woman is a talker." He sighs. "She thinks she has to explain every teeny tiny little thing."

"Oh great." I say with a groan.

We continued talking as we finished walking to the bookstore. I texted Izzy on the way and when she finally replied she requested that I shoot her and put her out of her misery. I told her that I couldn't help her with that cause she couldn't leave me, to that she replied with an emoji sticking it's tongue out at me.

After Magnus finished paying for his things, I walked him to his car and we said goodbye. Then I texted Izzy to let her know to meet me at my car when she was done.

Now I sit here in my car bored out of my wits and it's already 1:15. Oh I hope Magnus was wrong about being here until after two o'clock. I want to go home and take a nap before Jace gets home so we can finish our talk we started last night. After being up so late with him, then the weird dreams I kept having and now this college mess; I'm already exhausted. I've thought about trying to take a nap in the car but it's so uncomfortable.

I pull my phone out.

 **I'm hungry! You should bring me some food. - C**

'God Gave Me You by Blake Shelton' starts coming from my phone a minute later, and I smile.

 **Where are you? - J**

 **School...STILL! - C**

 **Y'all still ain't done? - J**

 **Nope, Izzy's still with that professor. - C**

 **Damn how longs it take? - J**

 **Apparently hours. Magnus said it could be after 2 before we get out of here. :'( -C**

 **That's ridiculous but I'll see what I can do. ;) - J**

 **Thank you! Y'all eat yet? - C**

 **Pulling in at Brad's Burger Hut now. You want? - J**

 **YES! I'm starving to death! - C**

 **Lol. No you're not. What do you want? - J**

 **Surprise me. - C**

 **You got it! :-* - J**

 **Pick up something for Izzy too! Please. - C**

 **Alright. Like what? - J**

 **Her usual. If you don't remember the other knuckleheads with you will. - C**

 **Got it! See you soon! - J**

 **Thank you! I love you! - C**

 **You're welcome! I love you too! - J**

I set my phone in it's car mount and try to get comfortable as I wait for Izzy, and now my food too. Oh, this has been a day and it's...

 _Not even over yet._

* * *

 **Jace**

"Okay guys watch for her." I tell Jon and Alec as I pull into to school parking lot.

The parking lot is packed so this is going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. Three rows and I've seen a yellow camaro, oh there's a black camaro but still no midnight blue camaro. I turn down another row, closer to the building, and a little less crowded.

"There." Alec says as he points out Clary's car.

"And there's a empty spot next to it." Jon adds in as he leans forward between the seats pointing in the same direction as Alec.

I pull up next to Clary's car and put my truck in park. I look out the driver window and laugh to myself. I grab Clary and Izzy's food, step out the truck, and walk around to the driver window of her car.

Then I take the bag of food in my left hand and pass it in front of Clary's face.

"Wake up." I say softly as I continue passing the bag back and forth in front of her face.

Her eyes start fluttering and she stretches with a moan. Then she slaps the bag out of my hand.

"Well see if I bring you food anymore." I say with a laugh.

She turns her head quickly in my direction, her eyes wide and blinking.

"Jace!" She says in astonishment. "You shouldn't do things like that, I could've shot you or broke your arm or something."

"Sorry but I couldn't resist." I say with a laugh as she reaches over and picks the bag up. "You looked so peaceful that I didn't want to just shake you awake."

"No it's okay, you just scared me is all. I didn't hurt you did I?" She asks as she starts to reach for the door handle.

I shake my head no. "Izzy still in with that meeting thing?"

"I guess so." She says as she looks around. "Are you three in a rush?"

I shrug then look over the roof of the car to my truck. "Hey! Are we in a hurry?"

"No, the auction doesn't start until 4 o'clock and we only have one other place to check out today, and it's only," Alec pauses as he looks at his phone. "1:49 now. Why?"

"Cause if y'all weren't in a rush and haven't already scarfed your food down I was going to see if you wanted to have a late lunch with me." Clary explains to him as she leans over the roof of her car.

"Sounds good to me!" Jon says with enthusiasm.

"Me too!" Alec says with a smile.

"I'm game!" I say as I turn to look her. "Where we going to eat at?"

She gives me a look that says ' _really_ ' and points over in the direction of my truck. "Drop the tailgate, it wouldn't be the first time we've all eaten in the bed of the truck."

"That's true." I agree.

We've all eaten in the bed of a truck for years. Even before we got licenses we'd eat out the bed of one of our parents trucks at the beach or even going down the road, where ever really. Plus we've always had tailgate parties for as long as I can remember.

"Guess it's a good thing you parked under a tree." I say as we begin making our way over to the truck.

"Yeah." She says with a yawn as the motor goes silent.

"You want your keys?" Jon hollers.

"No we aren't going anywhere." I say as Alec steps out the truck. "And I don't think anybody would be that stupid to steal a truck with all of us in the back."

"Yeah, I don't see that happening either." Jon says as he steps out the rear driver side door.

I drop the tailgate. Jon and Alec sit on it as Clary starts to climb up, so I put my hand on her fine ass and gently push to help her up; plus I just want to cop a cheap feel. Once she sits down next on Jon's right, I sit beside her and Jon passes my bag of food over.

"So how's your day been going?" Jon asks.

"Mine?" Clary ask as she opens her bag up. "Better now!"

I look over at her as she pulls her bacon cheeseburger out the wrapper. She takes a big bite, like she has to stop it from running away, and I laugh.

"What?" She asks with a mouthful. "I told you I was starving."

"I thought you were being dramatic." I say with a laugh as I shake my head slightly. "If I had know you were that hungry I would've gotten you a double bacon cheeseburger and an extra large order of onion rings."

"You got me onion rings?" She asks excitedly with food still in her mouth as she starts digging in the bag. "Oh you really do love me!"

I laugh. "Well of course!"

"Jonny can I have a drink?" Clary asks as she reaches towards him.

"Don't backwash." He teases as he hands her his cup.

"I'm not you." She jokes as she grabs it. She takes a drink and sits it down between them. "Thanks!"

"Your welcome!" Jon says simply as he stares at her.

She starts eating her onion rings and within five minutes she's done.

"Are you pregnant?" Alec asks incredulously as she bites into her burger again.

"NO!" She shouts back quickly with a mouthful of burger, again. "It was just early when I ate and I've walked from one end of the campus to the other."

"Are you sure?" Alec asks curiously.

She puts up her left index finger telling him to wait as she finishes her mouthful and swallows.

"I'm positive. I'm just hungry and I haven't eaten anything since.." She looks over at me. "What time was it?"

"It was before eight this morning." I say to her. I look over at Alec. "And she wasn't really eating, she was snacking on the bacon as it got done."

"Ah, that explains it." Alec says as he nods his head. "You need to quit that shit and start eating right, Cla-ris-sa."

"Aye, aye, captain." She says jokingly. "But for the record I do eat right, I just can't help it. The bacon just smells so good and I like it better when it's fresh from the skillet."

"Well, then eat the last of what comes out the pan." Jon says firmly.

"You do it too, so I don't want to hear it." Clary retorts and then sticks her tongue out at him.

"Somethings will never change." Alec says as he shakes his head.

"Somethings are better left unchanged." Clary says matter-of-factly.

"You tell him Little Sister." Jon says encouragingly.

"OH! Speaking of which.." Clary says before she stops abruptly.

She leans over to Jon's ear. He starts grinning as she whispers in his ear. I know that grin, it's a mischievous one. It's the same one that the two of them share, especially when they're up to something. She sits back up and I can see the same grin on her face. _OH SHIT!_ I think to myself. _This can't be good._

"Absolutely." He says as he nods with that same grin on his face.

"Yeah?" She asks with a matching grin as she raises her eyebrows.

"Uh huh." He says secretively.

"Okay what are you two up to?" I ask suspiciously, yet intrigued, with my eyes slightly narrowed at them.

"Up to?" They say in unison.

"Oh fuck!" Alec says knowingly. "Just tell me that it doesn't involve me, _please_."

"I want to know that too." I add in.

"I don't know what y'all are talking about." Clary says innocently her mischievous grin still in place.

"Me either." Jon says simply with his matching grin still in place too.

"But if we did, it wouldn't involve either of you." Clary says nonchalantly.

"Do I-" I begin.

"NO!" They say simultaneously cutting me off.

"Somethings are better left unknown." Clary says with an eyebrow raised while _still_ grinning as she looks me directly in the eyes. She winks. "You'll know soon enough."

"You're evil." I say as I shake my head slightly with a smile on my face and an eyebrow raised.

"I know." She says proudly as she brings her last bit of burger back up to her mouth.

Now I definitely can't help but wonder. What is she planning to do? What are they planning to do? Does it really not involve me and Alec? She did say I'll know soon. But how soon? Oh this is going to drive me crazy. One things for certain though, with it being the Morgenstern siblings, whatever they've got planned, it's...

 _Definitely going to be good!_

* * *

 **Isabelle**

Ugh that professor is so annoying at times. I mean I appreciate everything she does for me but does she really have to talk so much. Over half of that meeting wasn't even fashion related, if she had stayed on topic it would have only lasted about a hour tops. Maybe she's just lonely but I had hoped to meet the guys for lunch with Clary today.

Poor Clary I bet she's nearly starved to death by now, I know I am. She's probably bored out of her mind too since Magnus left, after all it was 12:57 when she texted about that, it's 2:27 now, and I know I would be. If I had known it was going to take this long I would have driven up here myself. Then she could've just left when she got done, instead of waiting around for me.

Now as I begin to power walk across this campus I can see her car from here, and I'm not sure but I think that's Jace's truck next to it. Yeah, it's definitely his truck cause Jon just stood up in the bed. What on earth is he doing now?

"What's up bitches?!" I holler as I get closer.

Clary pokes her head around the back of the truck with a smile. "They brought food!"

"Oh thank heavens, I'm _starving_!" I say as I walk between her car and his truck, heading towards the back.

"Better watch it, Alec will think you're pregnant talking like that." Jace says teasingly.

"Do _what_?!" I ask incredulously as I round the back. I look over at Alec. "Are you crazy?"

"Maybe." Alec says with a shrug. "But you should've seen the way Clary ate her food, she acted like it was trying to get away and she had to stop it."

"He acts like he's never seen me eat like that before." Clary says as she hands me a Brad's Burger Hut bag. "Your favorite."

"Thanks!" I say as I open the bag. Inside I find a large order of tater tots and a wrapped up sandwich that I know is a quarter pounder with extra pickle, if they got my favorite. "Who's idea was it to bring us food?"

"Mine." Clary and Jon say simultaneously.

"Liar!" Clary says as she looks up at him while she sits between Jace's legs, on the tailgate.

"Shhh big mouth." Jon teases as he still bounces up and down in the bed of the truck, only bending his knees. "I was trying to get brownie points."

"Well did you bring any?" I ask as I stick another tater tot in my mouth.

"Any what?" Jon asks confusedly with his eyebrows furrowed together as he stops bouncing.

"Brownies, duh." I reply sarcastically.

"No." He says as he shakes his head slightly.

"Then you don't get brownie points." I say matter-of-factly with a smile.

Clary, Jace, and Alec start laughing as Jon acts as if he's pulling a knife from his chest, and I finish off the last of my tots.

"You got told." Jace says in laughter.

"I'll remember that." Jon says as he nods with a smile and his eyes narrowed at me.

"Good." I say simply with a mouthful of burger. I swear these are the best burgers from a fast food place, they are always seasoned perfectly.

"Dang Sister, are you sure _you ain't pregnant_?" Alec asks incredulously.

I look over at him quickly and if looks could kill, the daggers I'm shooting him would definitely do the job.

"YES! I'm positive. Why do you think a hungry woman is pregnant all of a sudden?" I ask him in annoyance.

"You're burger is gone already." He replies as he points at the last bite of burger in my fingers.

"That doesn't mean I'm pregnant, it just means I was hungry." I say matter-of-factly with a hint of anger to my voice. "It's been hours since I've eaten anything."

"All she ate was bacon this morning too." Jace chimes in on my behalf.

"Yeah and a couple of bites off my plate." Jon adds in.

"See what I was talking about?" Clary asks with a chuckle. "He acts as if he's never seen us eat like one of them before."

"Well, I know better cause we've out eaten them _plenty_ of times." I say matter-of-factly.

"Yeah remember when they ate two large supreme pizzas by themselves, _each_?" Jace asks with a laugh.

"Or what about that time they ate an entire rack of ribs before we even got any?" Jon asks in laughter.

"Okay I suppose y'all are right." Alec says in defeat. "Maybe it was just wishful thinking."

" _WHAT_?!" The four of us ask in unison.

"Why the _hell_ would you be wishing that?" Clary asks incredulously. "And right now of all times?"

Alec shrugs. "Just thought it'd be nice to have a little Clace and Jozzy running around."

I scoff. "You've got issues!"

"That ain't no joke!" Clary says confidently. "You two ain't gonna say anything about this?"

I look over at Jon and he looks like he's in shock. His face is white with his jaw dropped and eyes wide as he shakes his head very slightly, I assume in disbelief.

"I don't think this is the time to be having wishful thoughts like that." Jace says his voice sounding strained. After what happened I know this subject is hard on him _and_ Clary, but for Alec to be the one bringing it up. Yesh! I'm shocked that Clary can hide it so well. "We've all got to much going on right now."

"Yeah." Jon manages to get out finally. He points towards Jace. "What he said."

"I know, I know." Alec says defensively. He sighs. "But one day it'd be nice to have nieces and nephews to spoil."

"You can spoil Max." Clary says decisively.

"Yeah!" I quickly agree. Why didn't I think of that comeback?

"No I can't. He just turned fifteen last week, he isn't going to want me hanging around." Alec says a little sadly. "Besides he's to busy with all his little buddies."

"That's not true! He loves you and will always have time for you." Clary says sweetly yet assuredly. "You know that."

"All you just have to do is say the word." I add.

"Yeah but he's so busy with his own thing and I'm busy with mine so we hardly ever cross paths." Alec sighs. "Maybe after all this is done with I can take him to the arcade, or surfing, or something."

"He'll love that!" I say happily.

Alec smiles a half smile. "Yeah I know."

"The Comic Shack." Jace suggest.

"He really liked Comic Con when me and Izzy took him a couple weeks ago." Clary says enthusiastically. She pushes his arm slightly. "You could take him to something like that."

"Maybe we'll do it all!" Alec says excitedly with a grin.

"Now that's what I call spoiling him." Jon says with a laugh.

"Well that is the point." I say with a chuckle. "Now that, _that's_ settled are y'all done for the day?"

"No." Jon says with a sigh.

"We actually need to get going, it's already 3:03 and we've still got to check out that building before the auction." Alec says with certainty.

Jace sighs. "Guess we better get going then."

"See you when you get home." Clary says to him.

"I'll see you later." Jon says to me as he jumps out the back of the truck. He lands right in front of me and then gives me a kiss. "Will you be at the house when I get in?"

"It depends on what time you get in." Now I give him a kiss. "I told my mom I'd have dinner with her and Max tonight."

"Alright then, afterwards?" He asks hopefully with a smirk.

I roll my eyes at him playfully. "We'll see."

"Ouch!" He says as he grabs his chest. "You're killing me woman."

"Oh you'll survive." I say with a chuckle.

"I may not." He says with his eyebrows raised and a smirk.

"Get out of here already." I say playfully.

"Fine." He says with a laugh.

He gives me one last kiss and walks towards the front of the truck.

"I love you Clarissa!" He hollers as he reaches the door.

"I love you too Jonathan!" She yells back.

I've always loved the way those to say goodbye. They can be mad at each other and yet, if one goes to leave they still say it. I asked her once why they did it and she told me that it was just their thing. They've done it for as long as I can remember, but it's still sweet. It's as if they're afraid they won't get the chance to say it again so they say it one last time just to be sure the other knows it.

After we all said goodbye and the guys have left, me and Clary got in her car and began to head to her house.

"I still don't see why you just haven't moved in yet." Clary says as we pull into her driveway. "I mean you're always here anyway, and we've talked about it before."

I take a deep breath. "Yeah I know."

"Is it about Jonny?" She asks as we start to get out.

"No, I just.." I pause

"If you're worried about leaving your mom's house, she's just across the street and you could still see her everyday." Clary says after a short moment when I don't finish.

"I know, it's just kinda hard to imagine ya know? I mean me moving out, it seems surreal." I explain.

"Yeah that's what I thought too when mom gave me the house and moved to New York." She says sympathetically. "But we all end up leaving sooner or later, and your mom is just across the street. Besides it wouldn't be any different than it is now."

"That's true." I say in agreement. "But I'll have to think about it."

"Okay. And if you're worried about Jonny don't be." She says knowingly as we make our way upstairs.

"What do you mean?" I ask confusedly with my eyebrows furrowed together.

"I know you tend to overthink things like me, so I know you're probably thinking that since he hasn't flat out asked you that it's a bad idea but it's not. He's hinted it I don't know how many times and we've even talked about it, but if it would make you feel better there's always your room here." She explains.

"That's not my room." I say in my defense.

"Oh come on, it may as well be or was since you've been sleeping in his room now. I'm not sure, I'll have to get back to you on that." She says ending with a laugh as she plops down on her bed.

"I suppose your right. Let me think about it though, okay?" I ask simply.

"Sure." She replies simply as she grabs a pillow. She pats the bed to her right. "Now come on, it's been a long exhausting day so let's take a nap before dinner time."

"Sounds good to me." I say as I climb up on the right side of the bed.

I lay down facing Clary and she's looking at me.

"I love you Isabelle!" She says with a sweet smile.

"I love you too Clarissa!" I say sweetly with a smile.

She reaches her left hand up and lightly drags it across my face. "Now sleep, my alarms set for 5:30 so if we aren't up by then it'll yell at us until we are."

I chuckle. "Sounds like a plan to me."

I start drifting off to sleep and I start recounting everything that's happened so far today. Clary is definitely right, it has been a long exhausting day; the heat didn't help with that either. And I still can't believe Todd is back and didn't say anything about it or hasn't even let any of us know, at least until Magnus ran into him today. Oh he's going to hear an ear full.

Then there's what Clary said about moving in. We use to talk about it all the time even before me and Jon got together, back when he was gone two weeks at a time. But I don't know about moving out of my mom's house. I mean Clary has a good point, I am always here and my mom is just across the street. I already run back and forth so it's not really different. Is it? I have clothes at both houses, I always have though. Oh...

 _What to do?_

* * *

 **Hope you have enjoyed this chapter!**

 **I'm pretty sure that this story will have ups and downs, so prepare to be on the possibility of a rollercoaster.**

 **As always let me know what you think with a review. I always love hearing from you. Mwah.**


	3. Spaghetti Makes Everything Better

**Trey Songz ft Nicki Minaj - Bottoms Up**

* * *

 **Jonathan**

"Okay, so are you guys going to help?" Jace asks curiously as we pull up to the third location of the day.

"I just can't believe she said she doesn't want a party." I say incredulously from the backseat.

"I can't either." Alec says agreeingly as he shakes his head from the passenger seat. "How do you think she's going to react when she finds out?"

"I'm not sure." Jace says honestly as he glances over at Alec. "That's why it's called a surprise party."

"Yeah cause you may be the one getting surprised instead." I say jokingly with a chuckle.

Jace glances back at me as Alec looks back at me expectantly.

"What?" I ask simply with raised eyebrows.

Alec narrows his eyes at me. "What was that suppose to mean exactly?" He asks suspiciously.

"Just that you never know how the person you're surprising is going to react." I explain with a shrug. "They could be happy or they could be pissed so it's a surprise to you too."

"Oh, okay." Alec says simply as he turns back around.

"I tired to call y'alls mom and Luke to see if they could make it in, but didn't get an answer." Jace says getting back on topic as he kills the motor.

"Yeah her and Luke have been busy lately with the art exhibit. They were going to try to come in for Clary's birthday but the last time I talked to them, mom said they weren't going to make it." I inform him.

"When was the last time you talked to them?" Jace asks curiously as the three of us begin getting out the truck.

"A few nights ago." I say simply.

"Well that sucks!" He says disappointedly.

"Yeah I know." I say through an audible release of breath. I point at the building we are walking towards. "But on the up side of things, Luke did say that this guy would cut us a deal if we liked the place. Apparently he wants to get it sold before his wife files for divorce."

"Oh, so in other words, it's probably some greedy bastard that wants to keep money away from his ex-wife and kids." Alec says hatefully.

"Wow, why don't you tell us how you really feel." I say slightly shocked by his outburst.

"Sorry." Alec says with a sigh. "I just know that happens a lot since mom's an attorney."

"It's alright, I was kinda thinking that too." I admit as we walk through the front door.

"Well, I can tell you now there's no lobby so we'd have to build one." Jace says nonchalantly as he looks around.

"Let's see what the next room looks like." Alec says hopefully as he points towards an open door.

We walk though the opening into an empty, yet decently sized, shipping facility but it's not as big as we need. It only has one garage door, though the floor is large enough for two. But we need one that's even bigger, with at least three doors on the side - they could be two on one wall and one on the other for all I care - cause we could always add on the rest of the things we need and want. I wonder what these two think but in my opinion, I know...

 _This isn't the right place._

* * *

 **Alec**

Well another possible place down, which means that yet again the search is continued, but that place was really to small and none of us cared for it. However, I'm really starting to wonder if we'll ever be able to find a place to get this idea off the ground or if it will remain just that. And we've all agreed that there will be no searching tomorrow, that it will just be a stand still day for us, since Jace really needs to get Clary's surprise party planned and Jon will be helping him; plus I have to work.

It's good thing I didn't quit my crappy job already like I wanted to, cause then this would really blow balls; even if I am only getting scheduled a few days a week. I mean, I could probably just live off my savings and with the fact that I live with my mom, I don't have to pay any bills or even buy food; but I'd rather keep saving it in hopes that we do find a place and soon.

Then we also have the price of all the equipment needed to run it properly. We plan to make sure our customers are satisfied, and only have to make one stop. Hey that kinda reminds me of the ad Clary came up with for us.

 **The Family Auto Shop**

 **Family Owned and Operated**

 **All Our Technicians are ASE Certified**

 **Your one stop shop, no matter what your needs are.**

 **We offer a selection of things including but not limited to:**

 **Computer Diagnostic, Motor and Transmission, Tune-Ups, Brakes and Alignments, Suspensions, Welding, Lifts, Custom Paint and Body Work Major and Minor**

 **No job is to big or to small.**

 **We will get you back up and running in no time with satisfaction guaranteed.**

Oh good the auction is finally starting. We've got a lot of the smaller tools we need already but maybe we'll get lucky today with some good equipment at a reasonable price. That could be just the break we need to start turning things around. At least...

 _I sure hope so._

* * *

 **Clary**

 _Bottoms up bottoms up (up) Aye what's in ya cup Got a couple bottles But a couple ain't enough_

Damn it I forgot to turn my alarm off after me and Izzy woke up. What did I do with my phone? I begin searching the couch cushions for the stupid thing.

 _Bottoms up bottoms up (up) Throw ya hands up Tell security we bouta tear this club up Bottoms up bottoms up (up)_

"Just great." I say sarcastically to absolutely nobody, since I'm the only one here. Now where the heck is that stupid phone. I start pulling the cushions off, and sliding my hand through the crevices, still no stinking phone. I growl loudly. "Oh!"

I find the stupid thing on the floor, I forgot I knocked it off while I was watching television. I shake my head at myself, bend down and pick it up. When I check it, it shows two texts messages from Jace, one missed call from Celine and one from Jace. Guess I forgot to turn the ringer back on too.

 **Another bust, to small of a building. - J**

 **Mom called, said she tried to call you but got no answer. You alright? - J**

Last message came in thirty minutes ago.

 **I'm fine forgot to turn ringer back on and it was on the floor. Y'all headed back yet? - C**

 **Not quite, but it's almost over and we have gotten a few things. - J**

 **We're thinking about stopping to grab something to eat. Want us to get you something? - J**

 **No I'm good. I'm going to head over to your mom's and hang out with her for awhile. - C**

 **Alright, I'll see you when we get in. I love you! - J**

 **Okay be careful! I love you too! - C**

 **I will. - J**

I grab my keys, my wallet, slide on my flip-flops, and head over to Celine's house. It doesn't take long to drive there.

I knock on the door, and wait patiently.

Celine opens the door, smiles at me, and gives me a big hug. "Sweetie! I'm so glad you're okay, I was starting to get worried."

"I'm fine." I say reassuringly with a smile. "I just forgot to turn my ringer back on and I had knocked my phone off the couch."

"Well get in here." She says as she steps to the side of the door. "And what have I told you about knocking?"

"To not to." I reply regrettably as she shuts the door behind me.

"That's right, I gave you that key to use whenever you wanted." She says sternly as she points at me with her right index finger. "So you had better start using it."

"Yes ma'am." I say politely.

She grabs my left hand with her right hand. "Well come on into the kitchen." She says as she starts towards the kitchen. "I was just starting to make some spaghetti and garlic bread, and I'd love to have your help."

"And I'd love to help you." I say with a smile as we enter the kitchen, my hand still in hers.

She looks back at me with a half smile and lightly squeezes my hand. "You look like they're starving you over there. Don't my son and Jonny feed you?"

"You always say I look like I'm starving." I say with a laugh. "But yes they feed me, we all take turns when we do cook."

"Well if you ever get tired of their cooking and _fast food_ , you just bring your pretty little self down here and I'll make sure you're taken care of." She says lovingly as she grabs two pots and sits them on the stove.

"I know you will and I will." I say with a grin as I grab the pasta off the shelf in the pantry. "What are you doing on the twenty-third?"

She glances over at me, as I walk out the pantry holding the ingredients, with a big grin. "Well I was hoping to take my favorite girl out shopping for her birthday, and maybe even lunch. That is of course if she not busy. Why?"

I grin as she talks. Then I set down everything on the countertop of her island. "I was talking to Jace this morning about my birthday and instead of a party I told him I wanted us all, _including you_ , to just go out for a nice dinner at The Real Italian."

"I loved too! But why no party?" She asks curiously as she chops up a bell pepper of every color.

I shrug and grab a pot. "Just so much going on that I thought it'd be nice to have everyone together for dinner instead."

"Is that the only reason?" She asks suspiciously as I'm running water into the pot.

I bite my bottom lip. "No, I have something I want to tell everyone too."

I can hear her knife drop. "YOUR PREGNANT!"

"NO!" I say quickly as I spin around and she's looking at me in excitement. I shake my head. "I'm not pregnant, it's something totally different."

"Oh." She says simply with a hint of sadness as her excitement disappearing. "But you'd tell me if you were right?"

"Yes." I say assuredly. _At least I would now._ I think to myself.

She turns back to the island, picks up her knife and begins chopping again.

I turn off the water then walk up beside her and wrap my arms around her, hugging her, as I lay my head down on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?" I ask with concern.

She reaches her left hand up, across her chest, and places it on my right cheek. "Yes, I just want some grandbabies."

"You know, you're the second person to say almost the exact same thing to me today." I tell her as she rubs my cheek with her fingers. "Maybe after everything settles down and we're married we'll give you a grandbaby or two. How's that sound?"

"Sounds good but I'm not getting any younger and.." She pauses with a laugh. "I want _lots_ of grandbabies."

"Lots?" I ask with a chuckle.

"Oh yeah, at least a dozen." She says seriously.

My eyes go wide. "I don't think I could handle a dozen Little Jace's _and_ Jace at the same time."

"That's what I'm here for, to help keep them in line." She says with a laugh. "And of course there's the spoiling."

I shake my head slightly against her shoulder. "You're truly something else but I love you!"

"I love you too Sweetheart!" She says sweetly. She takes her hand away from my face. "Come on let's get back to cooking."

"Yes Momma Celine." I say as I give her a little squeeze.

I unwrap my arms from around her, walk back over to the sink, and begin filling the pot with water again.

"So have you two set a date yet?" She asks from behind me, and I can hear her knife hitting the cutting board as she chops.

"We were talking about it last night, but we haven't made definite choice yet." I inform her as I watch the pot fill.

"Any days standing out?" She asks curiously.

I turn the water off and grab the handle of the pot. "We have two, one this year and one next year during the summer."

"We live in Florida honey, it's always summer." She says with a chuckle.

"I know." I say with a laugh as I turn the stovetop on under the pot. "But I'm talking about actual summer season."

"Well my vote is for this year." She says as she scrapes chopped up peppers and onions in the pan besides me.

I chuckle. "We're actually suppose to finish that conversation tonight, so I'll let him know."

"Tell him what momma says goes." She says with a laugh.

"I sure will." I say in laughter as I begin to butter the bread for the homemade garlic bread.

We finish cooking dinner as we talked about everything going on and how she's missed me and Jace coming over together for our weekly dinners the past two weeks; it's just been me since he's been grabbing something from a fast food joint or when he does get home in time he just wants to relax instead of going anywhere.

"So are you excited for classes to begin again?" Celine asks half way through our meal.

"Not exactly." I say covering my mouth with my hand, trying to hide the fact that I'm talking with food in my mouth. I swallow my food. "That's kind of what I want to talk to everybody about at dinner."

"You're not dropping out are you?" She asks curiously as she lifts her fork to her mouth.

"No ma'am." I reply as I run another piece of garlic bread across my plate, making sure to get it saucy. "It's not that I'm-"

"Clary? Mom?" Jace hollers.

"We're in here." Celine calls out.

Jace walks into the dining room.

"Well if I had known you two were going to have dinner cooked I wouldn't have ate that nasty pizza from the convenience store." He says as he sits down across from me.

"Want some? I'm know that pizza didn't fill you up." I say with certainty.

"I'm good." Jace says simply.

"Oh go grab yourself a plate boy." Celine says sternly. _Get him!_ I think to myself.

"Yes ma'am." Jace says as he stands up and salutes her.

She chuckles. "Alright you little smartass."

"Little?" Jace asks incredulously as he grabs a plate from the cabinet. "I'm taller than you."

"That doesn't mean a thing, I'll still bend you over my knee." She says matter-of-factly.

"And I'll help." I chime in with a smile.

"This just isn't fair." Jace says as he acts like he's crying while sitting down. "You two are always double teaming me."

"Well we know what's best for you." Celine says with a smirk. "So once you learn to listen to us, we won't have to double team you anymore."

I bite my bottom lip as I try not to laugh at Jace who pouts like a little kid.

"I'm not sure if that's love or if you two are just mean." He says in a little kid voice.

"It's love." Me and Celine say simultaneously.

Jace smiles a knowing smile. "Of course it is."

"You're a mess." I say in laughter as I shake my head slightly at him.

"Yeah, but you love me." He says as he sticks a piece of bread in his mouth.

"Yes I do." I say at the same time Celine starts, "Quit, talking with food in your mouth."

"Ha, you got in trouble." I say teasingly.

Jace looks at Celine to his left, then back at me. He lifts his left hand up beside his face, trying to block her view, as he opens his mouth and shows me his chewed up food.

I bust out laughing, and Celine reaches over with her hand a pops his hand while laughing.

"You're so bad, Jace Herondale." She says in laughter.

This is what dinner is like every time the three of us sit down and have a meal together. Jace and I start taunting each other like we did when we were kids and Celine catches us, him more than me. But it's always full of laughter and love which makes it so great. I mean it's what life is all about after all. Right? And I can just imagine how it's going to be at the restaurant come my birthday, the whole gang together with Celine there...

 _That's going to be fun._

* * *

 **Hope you have enjoyed this chapter!**

 **I literally reread this chapter three more times and each time I changed at least two things, so I have decided I'm just going to post it and if I've screwed something up somebody will let me know. Lol.**

 **As always let me know what you think with a review. I always love hearing from you. Mwah.**

 **reppinda5o3 I'm sure you'll let me know if I screwed something up, right?**

 **I also have a special request from all my readers that believe in a higher power. My girl, Allieanna, and her husband are going through some massive stuff right now; it's not my place to say what. So if you don't mind please keep them in your prayers, well wishes, and thoughts. I know she would appreciate it, and I will too. Thank you in advance.**


	4. What A Life

**Jonathan**

"Oh come on, Jace!" I say exasperatedly. "This is like the fifth store, it doesn't have to be absolutely perfect."

"Yes it does!" Jace snaps back quickly. He takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry." He says sincerely. "But I _need_ this to be perfect."

"Why? Why does it have to be perfect?" I ask pleadingly.

Jace grabs yet another box off the shelf, inspecting it. "Well for starters it's Clary. Don't you think she deserves the best?"

"Well of course." I say a little shocked by his question. Him of all people, knows that I believe my sister deserves the best of everything. "But you know as well as I do that she isn't superficial and none of this mess matters to her."

"Parties are always a big thing with all of us though, and you know she'd be doing the same thing for us." He says putting the box back up on the shelf above his head. "Plus I need to make up for the past few years, especially last year."

"Is that what allll this is really about?" I ask as I motion dramatically at the shelves around us with my hands.

"Some of it is." He admits as he starts walking down the aisle, again.

I swear we've been up and down every aisle at least three times, in all five stores and all we've managed to get is a damn helium tank and some balloons.

"You don't have to make up for that, you know." I say with conviction as I shake my head slightly at him. "Nobody, _especially_ Clary, expects you to."

"That's kinda the point, she doesn't expect it so it'll be an even bigger surprise." He says dramatically, and I can see his hands moving around in the air as he does.

I sigh. "You will never feel like you've made up for it, no matter how much you try."

"Wow, somebody's getting deep on me." He says jokingly.

"I know from experience." I say sympathetically.

Jace stops dead in tracks and turns to look at me.

"What are you talking about?" He asks curiously.

"I missed her birthday last year too. I was scheduled to work and couldn't get anybody to change me weeks off." I explain.

"I didn't know that." He says sadly.

"Yeah well, it's not something I brag about. But my point is, I tried making it up to her every chance I got until she finally figured it out and you know what happened?"

Jace looks at me expectantly with curiosity all over his face as he shakes his head no.

"She ended up getting pissed off and yelling at me to quit. She said and I quote 'It wasn't your fault, you can't control everything. Now if you don't quit I'm going to bring a world of hurt down on you that my great-great nieces and nephews are going to feel. Do you want that?' end quote."

"That sounds about right." Jace says with a laugh.

"And I'm her brother so imagine how she'll react towards you." I say in warning with a raised eyebrow. "Now can we please hurry, I've got an appointment to keep this evening and I still have to go get her birthday present."

"An appointment?" He asks suspiciously. He tilts his head to the right slightly. "With who?"

"With a little red head we both know and love." I say knowingly with my devilish grin.

Jace smiles like he knows what it is I'm meeting Clary about as he shakes his head slightly.

"Alright but I'm still going to attempt to make this party as great as possible." He say decisively.

"You're as stubborn as she is." I say with a chuckle as I shake my head.

Jace shrugs his shoulders. "Oh well."

He turns around and begins walking again.

A few minutes later he takes off running down the aisle and slides to a stop. He snatches something up off the shelf and holds it above his head.

"HELL YEAH!" He shouts through the store.

"What is it?" I ask intriguingly.

He turns towards me with a big shit eating grin, bringing the package down to his chest.

"She'll love this!" He says enthusiastically.

As I get closer I can see what he's holding and I start smiling.

"Oh yeah." I say excitedly as I shake my head yes repeatedly and quickly.

"I'm getting it." He says confidentially with a smile still on his face.

"Well, put in the cart." I say with a smile as I gently nudge him with it.

Jace sticks the package in the cart and begins searching the shelf he pulled it from.

I watch him as he searches with determination and a look on his face to match.

I'm so glad my baby sister has him back in her life. Somebody that will always do his best by and for her, no matter what the case. Somebody that will walk through the depths of hell for her, barefooted if need be, just to make sure she's alright and has everything she wants and needs; even the things she doesn't want or need. Somebody that worries about her on all accounts; whether it be her happiness, health, or safety. And I know she's the same way with him. They'd even lie for each other if need be, in fact they have plenty of times.

I hope Izzy and me are as fortunate as they are years from now. I mean, I'm head over heels for the girl and I'm pretty sure she is for me too. But I hope that as time passes nothing changes for us and that we end up just like Clary and Jace did. Ah..

 _That would be the life!_

* * *

 **Isabelle**

"You can do it just three more." I cheer from above Clary.

"Twenty-eight.." She says through a held breath as she pushes the bar weighing more than she does.

"That's it, slow and easy." I say with a smile as I look down at her face.

She lowers the bar slow and steady. "Izzy."

"I'm sorry." I say with a laugh.

She releases her breath.

"I appreciate the encouragement but you know I know what I'm doing." She says a little out of breath.

She takes another deep breath, holding it, and begins to push the bar up again.

"I know." I say simply. "I just can't help it though."

"Twenty-nine.." She says with the bar above her. "Why?"

"I don't know." I say with a slight shrug. "It's just fun cheering you on."

She shakes her head slightly with a smile and the bar lowered across her chest.

"You've always been my favorite spotter." She says through a slightly strained voice as she starts to push the bar up one last time. "And cheerleader."

"Thirty!" I say excitedly as she has her arms fully extended out in front of her with the bar in her hands. "Oh and thanks!"

"You're welcome!" She says as she sets the barbell back in it's place.

"I can't believe you did that on the first try." I say as I pull my hands back from underneath the bar.

"I don't know why, since I've lifted weights for what seems like forever." She says puzzledly as she sits up.

"Not that." I say as I start to walk around the weight bench. "You added more weights to it today."

"Well what I was lifting was getting to easy." She gets a drink from her water bottle. "I needed to up it so I could have a challenge."

"But that was one sixty." I say impressed.

"So." She says simply with a laugh as she stands up.

"You were lifting one forty." I say as we walk over to the dumbbell rack.

"Your point?" She asks curiously as she grabs a set of ten pound dumbbells.

I grab a set of five pound dumbbells, cause I don't want to push myself like she does.

"That's twenty pounds more than usual and you still did a full thirty." I say incredulously as we walk over to the area of the room that has the two stair stepper machines.

"It'll take me more time to get to comfortable with it this way." She says as we start doing the stairs. "You know I like a challenge when I workout."

"The way you push yourself though." I say with a smile as I nudge her with my right arm. "It's crazy."

She laughs. "Thought you already knew I was crazy."

"I did or I do rather." I say in laughter.

"HEADSTRONG!" Clary shouts abruptly. "Turn it up."

I reach in my back pocket, grab the remote, and turn up the music. I didn't even realize Trapt was on our workout playlist. And of course once I have the music turned up we start jamming and singing along with the song as we work out to the beat.

"I feel the burn." I say in mock agony right before the song is over.

Clary stops singing. "You know, we really didn't have to do this today."

"I know but.." I pause. I can't tell her that Jon asked me last night to keep her extra busy today. He wouldn't tell me why but I'm guessing it has to do with buying her birthday present. "I didn't want you working out on your birthday."

"It's just another day, honestly." She says with a chuckle.

"That's not what you say when it's my birthday." I say confidently with a smile.

"Okay you got me there, but once you get my age you'll see." She with a laugh.

"You're age? I'm only a week and two days younger than you." I say in laughter.

"I know but it sounded good, didn't it?" She asks as she laughs.

"You're such a goofball." I say shaking my head slightly with a laugh as the timer goes off.

"But ya love me just the same." She says as we step off the stairs.

"Ya damn skippy!" I say with a grin as we head back to the dumbbell rack. "By the way, I have a surprise for you after we get cleaned up."

"Oh really, and what's that?" She asks suspiciously.

"You'll just have to wait and see." I say mysteriously. "Now won't you?"

"That's not fair." She says as she stomps her foot. "You know I don't care for surprises."

"All I'm going to say is..." I pause a moment for dramatic effect.

"Well?" She asks impatiently as we make our way to door.

I laugh. "It's an early birthday present."

"Iz, you really didn't have to do that." She says assuredly.

"Oh it wasn't just me." I say mischievously as we walk out into the hall of the first floor of her house.

"Who else is it from?" She asks curiously.

"Mom, so ha!" I glance over at her with my tongue stuck out. "You can't get mad about it."

"Oh yes I can." She says teasingly. "Why did you two get me an early present?"

"Well mom won't be around for your birthday and we thought this would be good so that you.." I throw my right hand over my mouth, stopping myself abruptly before I tell her to much.

Clary laughs at me as we round the corner to the stairs.

"Damn you!" I say with my hand still over my mouth as we start up the stairs.

She laughs harder. "I can't help it if I know how to get things out of you."

"You're a cheater." I say as I remove my hand from my mouth. "That's what you are."

"I am no such thing." She says in mock hurt as we top the stairs.

"Whatever." I say playfully as I roll my eyes. I gently push her towards her bedroom. "Now go get cleaned up, we've got an appointment to keep."

"Appointment? What kind of appointment?" She asks incredulously.

"You'll see, and you'll love it." I say knowingly.

"Fine." She says dramatically.

I watch as she walks in her room and shuts the door as she mumbles something under her breath that sounded like damn doctors. I shake my head as I laugh to myself. She is definitely something else and it seems like as time passes, she just gets worse. It's not a bad worse by any means, it's a good worse. She's always coming up with new ways to make life fun and interesting, even when she occasionally acts like a pouting child she does it good naturedly.

Now as I walk into the room I've been sleeping in with Jon I can't help but think..

 _She's really gonna like her surprise!_

* * *

 **Jace**

"Look, I called before I came all the way up here and the woman I talked to said that all I had to do was come pay for it and sign the contract." I argue with the man, who's name tag reads Alien but I seriously doubt that's his real name.

"I'm sorry sir but she was mistaken, we are completely booked." Alien says with an edge to his tone.

"Well that's just great!" I say as I walk away.

I've spoken with two other employees, one of which was on the phone, and I'm tired of dealing with this 'manager' that can't even go by his real name. I mean seriously what kind of world are we living in when a grown ass man wants to be called Alien? I don't think I even want to trust food coming from somebody with that kind of name anyway. Clary deserves the best, not something that would probably look like a damn martian.

I pull out my phone.

 **Please tell me you're having better luck. - J**

 **Probably not. I told you to check with The Real Italian. - Jon**

 **Well that's where I'm heading to now so wish me luck. What problems are you having? - J**

 **I can't find the colors you wanted or even the right damn sizes when I do find the colors. - Jon**

 **Wanna trade? ;) - J**

 **No! I want you to hurry up and get the hell over here. - Jon**

 **I think we should've brought Izzy. - J**

 **We needed her to keep Clary busy though. - Jon**

 **Good point. If Magnus wasn't at work we could've used him to distract her. - J**

 **Yeah. You on your way yet? - Jon**

 **I'm at the truck now, so I'll be there in a few. - J**

 **HURRY! - Jon**

I laugh out loud at Jon as I start my truck.

Jon's never been good with the smaller details; such as party supplies, ballons, and things of that nature. The food, alcohol, music, and things along those lines have always been his thing. That's why it surprised me when he said he'd take on the stores while I handle the catering, but he said it was my idea so I was in charge of the food. And that's just turned out so _great_.

I _literally_ called a dozen different catering companies that offered an Italian menu, cause the last time I was at The Real Italian they didn't cater. But I guess there's only one way to find out, I'm just going to have to go in and ask. I hope like hell that they do and that they can take the job. If not I have a feeling I'm going to end up having to do the cooking or try to sweet talk somebody into doing it for me.

I'm just glad we still have part of the day to try and get this taken care of since Jon told Clary we were going to check out a couple of locations. We couldn't very well tell her, 'oh yeah we're going to get things in motion for your surprise party that you don't even want.' That would've defeated the whole purpose. It would've been so much easier had she wanted a party though. Then I could just ask her which things she liked better, and what exactly it was she wanted. But nooo she doesn't want one this year, so now it's all up to me with the help of Jon. I'm counting my blessings on that one, since he didn't have to help.

Finally there's the restaurant, and lucky me there's an empty parking spot close enough to the door that this shouldn't take to long. I park, kill the engine, and get out heading towards the door. As I walk through the door all I can think is, oh please let them cater and be able to do this. I need this to happen. I want this to happen for Clary. After all..

 _She deserves it._

* * *

 **Hope you all enjoyed!**

 **Don't forget to let me know what you think. I love the reviews. Mwah!**

 **Did you notice the chapter titles from chapters 1-4? Get It Started, College Sucks, Spaghetti Makes It All Better, What A Life HAHA. I honestly didn't plan that, it just kind of happened. So I just checked through the chapter titles from High School Sweethearts and noticed that I did it there too. I don't know how I do or did it, but it's funny nonetheless.  
**

 **KB - YAY! I was so worried you wouldn't get to read this one. I would've gotten it out sooner but yeah. Anyway, that really sucks about your phone. Verizon blows! I jumped ship with them a long time ago. They always seemed rude, and acted like they couldn't help with even the simplest things. I had nothing but problems with them. Ugh.**

 **If you guys haven't checked out the stories by Mrs Jace Wayland-Herondale you really should. Chapter two of Sweet Redemption was posted last night, and it's great! You can say what you want since I have a hand in the story but all her stories are great so :P lol. Seriously though go check her work out, and if you haven't read Sweet Revenge then you won't know exactly what's going on in SR2 - Sweet Redemption.**

 **Rambling again. Haha.**


	5. What A Day

**Clary**

Today has been an exciting day to say the least. First, me and Izzy worked out really good. Then, she surprised me with a deep tissue massage. I had almost forgotten how relaxed my body could really be. And now, we're laid back on the beach enjoying the sun, as we make sure our tans don't fade since we didn't get a chance to do this yesterday. Life is good!

"Ah," Izzy says with a happy sigh. "Now this is the life!"

"I agree." I say as I lay here on my back with my eyes closed.

"I wonder how Jace and Jonny's day is going." Izzy says curiously.

"Not nearly as good as ours I'm sure." I say with a chuckle.

"Probably not." She says simply. She takes an audible breath. "I wish they'd find a place already, I'm really getting tired of it."

"They will." I say as I roll over onto my stomach. "It's just taking longer than they planned cause they're all so picky and don't want to take out a huge loan."

"Well, they need to do something, cause at this rate it'll be next year before they find a place." She says with an edge of annoyance.

I lean up on my elbows and look over to my right at her. She's laying on her back with her eyes closed and her jaw tight.

"Maybe we should go get them a place and settle it then." I say only half serious about my idea. I know how they all get when I suggest something like this.

"That's a great idea!" She says as she opens her eyes while sitting up quickly.

"Yeah?" I ask in shock.

She looks over at me with a smile and nods.

"Okay I tell you what, we'll go see what we need to do about getting them that big place they all liked just off the highway by the beach. And if they haven't found a place within a week, we'll get it for them." I say completely serious now, her eyes and smile getting wider as I speak. "What do you think about that?"

"I love it! It could be like their early Christmas and birthday presents from us!" She says enthusiastically.

"I didn't think about that." I admit with a laugh. "But that would work."

"Then it's settled then?" She asks with uncertainty.

"It's settled." I say assuredly as I grin.

"Oh you're the best!" She says happily as she hugs me.

"So you always say." I say with a chuckle as I smile. "But.."

"Oh no." She says as she pulls back.

"Not a bad but." I say reassuringly with my eyebrows raised. "We just can't let them know or they'll _attempt_ to stop us."

"Oh." She says simply with a small smile appearing on her face. "Of course."

"Okay so it's our secret." I say with a smirk.

"I swear." She says as she puts her right hand over her heart.

I put my right hand over my heart. "I swear too."

I'm not sure why we just did that, we've had and _have_ plenty of secrets that we've never sworn to keep, and have yet to tell a soul about. I guess since we're sisters to two and also dating two of them, is why. I still think it was completely unnecessary for either of us to do so though. _Oh well!_ I tell myself and mentally shrug my shoulders.

"Now what are two good looking ladies doing out here by themselves?" A voice ask as a shadow appears across me and Izzy.

I look at Izzy with a 'what the hell' look and she's looks up then back at me with a look that says 'who the hell is this' so I roll over onto my right side and look over my shoulder.

Behind me stands a man about six foot tall with light brown hair, brown eyes, and is smiling impishly. I look from his face down his body and back up to size him up, in case he's looking to start trouble. He has no shirt on and a scar that runs diagonally across his chest.

"Cat got your tongues?" He asks seductively.

"No our tongues are just fine." Izzy retorts.

 _Damn it Izzy!_ I mentally curse her. I wish she wouldn't play into his hands, cause I have a feeling that's exactly what he wants. He just gives me this feeling down in my gut of something not being right. And the way he's looking at us makes me just want to beat the shit out of him.

"So you do speak." He says with raised eyebrows and a smirk. He points at me. "Does your friend?"

I look at him in disgust. "I speak just fine. Now do you want to tell us what you want?"

"Feisty and straight to the point, I like that." He says sounding amused. He points behind him with his thumb. "Me and a couple of buddies wanted to know why two fine ass women were laying out here by themselves and if they might be interested in joining us for a party?"

The balls on this one. And party? I'm sure I know what he means by it. He probably thinks we're stupid, and going to fall for it. Not happening!

"Do you really think we're here by ourselves?" I ask confidently and unamused.

"Well, I don't see anybody." He says as he spreads his hands out and turns around as if he's looking for somebody.

I laugh sarcastically. "Just because you don't see them doesn't mean anything."

"That's true but we've been watching you for over an hour and haven't seen anybody come up to either of you." He explains proudly with sly grin.

I tap the spot in front of my body, between me and Izzy. "They're right here."

"Where?" He asks confusedly, his grin disappearing.

"Right here." I say with certainty as I tap the spot some more. "Don't you see them?"

He looks dumbfounded as he shakes his head no.

I look over at Izzy, give her a quick smile and cut my eyes up at the guy for a second.

"He don't see them." I say pretending to be shocked. "Don't you see them?"

"Oh I see them alright." She says as she tries not to laugh and smile.

I look back over at him. "We both see them, so why can't you?"

"You mean to tell me you're here with imaginary people?" He asks incredulously.

"They're not imaginary and they're not just people." I say sternly. "They're our boyfriends, well hers is anyway." I say as I point at Izzy quickly. "And mine is my fiancé."

"Well me and my friends can give you the real thing." He says devilishly with his smirk returning.

"No thanks. What they can't give us, we give each other." I say matter-of-factly.

"You two need to be in a nut house." He says as he turns and begins to walk away.

"Thanks! We've been there, done that, and plan on going back." I holler at him as he walks off.

I can hear Izzy snickering from behind me as I watch him walk away. And once he get's a good distance away, I look back over at her.

"You're crazy!" She says in laughter with a smile.

I shrug one shoulder. "I had a bad feeling about him, and something tells me it's not over."

She stops laughing and her smile drops. "Do you think we should call the guys?"

"No, they've got enough going on." I say as I glance back over my shoulder quickly. "Besides, I've got a friend in my car if need be."

"Maybe we should just leave." She says sounding a little panicky.

"I'm not letting some prick run us off." I say with a hint of anger creeping into my voice. I take a deep breath to calm myself. "Don't worry, we'll be alright. I've got this."

"You always do and that's what I'm worried about." She says worriedly.

I sigh. "Well don't be. Now relax, I'm not letting some douchebag ruin our day."

"To late." I hear her mumble under her breath.

I don't say anything back because she's not entirely wrong. We were having a pretty good day until he showed up. But I'm not going to let some creep run me, or us for that matter, off this beach. This is the same spot we have come to since we were kids, the same spot we always get. _Damn it_ , it's our spot, on our beach! True we might not own it but it's metaphorically ours, and that counts.

I lay back down on my stomach with my face turned to my left. If he comes back I want to be able to see him coming. I want time to be standing and ready to fight before he gets close enough to us. I want, no _need_ to be able to warn Izzy to get the hell out of here. _Just great!_ I think to myself. I really should just go find him and take care of it now. Such a good day now down the shitter cause of him. Oh...

 _What a day!_

* * *

 **Alec**

When I got off of work a little early, Jace and Jon were still busy with trying to get everything ready for Clary's birthday party and the girls were off doing their own thing at the beach, so I texted Magnus to see if he was still at work. He texted back that he was already off for the day and was at home, to which I replied that I was on my way over. Once I got there he was in the process of cooking a nice yet somewhat early dinner, he had planned for the two of us. So while he cooked I showered and put on clean clothes. Afterwards I went to the kitchen and helped him finish up the meal; which consisted of hawaiian chicken, asian-style fried rice with stir-fry vegetables added in it, and caramel apple crisp for dessert.

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood, we need to talk." Magnus says firmly as we still at the table, eating.

I freeze with my fork in front of my mouth. Still frozen in place I take a large gulp.

 _Oh no!_ I think to myself. This doesn't sound good at all. Did I do something wrong? Does this have to do with me being so busy lately? I know with work and trying to get everything going with the business that we haven't been able to spend as much time with each other like we use to, but I thought he said he understood. He's been so supportive, and even listens to my endless ramblings about it all, without ever complaining. Has he gotten tired of it? Oh my God, what if he's breaking up with me? I grind my teeth at the thought of it, surely that's not it. But...

 _What is this about?_

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Let me know what you think in the reviews. Mwah!**


	6. What Did They Do? (Part 1)

**Jonathan**

Me and Clary laugh hysterically while we run as fast as we can down the block and quickly jump in my truck. I start the truck, throw it in drive, push the gas pedal completely to the floorboard, and take off as fast as I can.

"We are so bad!" I say through my laughter while slightly out of breath from running.

"Yeah, but we are _so_ good at it!" She says excitedly in laughter, slightly out of breath herself.

"So good that it's scary sometimes." I say still laughing.

I take a right turn quickly and glance over at her. She has a huge evil grin on her face and is laughing so hard that she's turning red.

"Scary for you maybe." She says while trying to calm her laughter as she reaches over and playfully pushes my right arm. "But for me it's completely exhilarating!"

"I didn't say scary as in bad scary, I mean scary as in it shocks me each time we come up with something new." I explain with my laughter calming.

"Oh okay, I thought you were going soft on me for a minute there." She says teasingly as she laughs. She takes an deep audible breath, bringing her laughter down to a small chuckle. She goes completely quite and I can hear the leather seat underneath her making noise as she adjust her positioning. "You did get everything hooked up right didn't you?" Clary asks a little worriedly.

"Yes!" I say dramatically as I look over at her.

"You're sure?" She asks skeptically as she turns to look at me.

"I'm sure." I say exasperatedly. I look back to the road. "I checked everything three times just to be sure."

"You remembered to hit record this time, right?" Clary asks suspiciously with a little panic in her tone.

"Oh my God, that happened one time, _one time_ , years ago and you still won't let me live that down will you?" I say just a little bit annoyed.

Out of all the times we've done something like this, I've only forgot to hit record once. _Once_ for crying out load. But she has always run through a list of things to check off after we've already left.

"Nope." She says popping the p. "But did you?"

"Yes, I remembered." I say with a sigh. "Now will you calm down?"

"Not until we, TOUCHDOWN." She says with a slight chuckle, and I can see out the corner of my eye that she throws her arms in the air mimicking a football referee.

I laugh at her. "Soon Little Sister, _very soon_!" I say with my devilish grin reappearing.

"Not soon enough though." She says mischievously. I sneak a peak over at her and she's smiling devilishly as well. She hits the dashboard with her fist. "THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT!"

I bring my left hand to my mouth, huff on my fingers, and polish my fingernails against my shirt. "Definitely going down in the books as one of our finest moments." I say proudly.

"Ohhh yeahhh _definitely_!" She says just as proudly as I did. Then she begins laughing evilly.

We are the Morgenstern siblings, the brother and sister duo, that will get you in ways you couldn't even phantom. We'll get you when you least expect it and make sure payback is ten times worse. We'll watch our work in action with pride. And if we can't be there when it goes down, we'll make sure that it's set up in ways that we can. We'll record it so that we have proof and can show our friends, as well as others, our _lovely_ handy work. Because if you fuck with one of us, you fuck with the both of us, and I do mean...

 _You get both of us!_

* * *

 **Clary**

As me and Jon get to the house, it's already ten at night so it's dark and yet, the only lights on are the living room and the front porch. Of course, the garage light comes on as we pull in, but that's only because it's motion censored. _Jace must be in bed already._ I tell myself since our bedroom light isn't on. We get out the truck after Jon kills the motor, and head inside.

Jace is sitting on the left side of the couch, which is closet to the door, and Izzy is sitting on the right side with the television on as they watch the show ' _Rosewood_ ' on the DVR. I love me some Rosie and Villa, and can't wait until they're finally together.

"I see how it is, watching Rosie without me." I say teasingly as I walk towards the couch.

Izzy looks back at me with a very faint half smile but Jace doesn't budge.

"Where have you two been?" Izzy asks curiously.

"Oh, just taking care of some business." Jon says simply as he breaks away from my side, walking over in her direction.

I come up on Jace's left, he's sitting with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. I bend over and kiss the top of his head. He still does nothing, not even the slightest movement.

"What's the matter with you?" I ask worriedly as I sit down on the arm of the couch and put my right arm around his shoulders. He never acts like this unless something is seriously wrong.

He leaps of the couch and quickly turns to look at me. He is still scowling and his fist are balled up at each side now.

 _What the fuck?_ I ask myself. Something is seriously wrong. What could have happened and why does he look like he's pissed off at me? I haven't done nothing, at least as far as I can remember. Is this cause I ate the last of his pecan praline ice cream earlier today?

"What?" I ask hesitantly with my eyebrows raised.

"Why don't you tell me about what happened at the beach." He says with an edge to his voice.

Shit! Now I know why he's so upset, but how did he... Izzy. Big mouth, I'm going to have to invest in a gag ball for that girl.

I look over at her with my eyes narrowed, and she mouths 'sorry' as she drawls her shoulders up. I shake my head at her and take a deep breath before I look back to Jace.

"It doesn't matter okay, it's been taken care of already." I say positively as I reach for his right hand that is still balled up in a fist.

"TAKEN CARE OF?" He shouts incredulously as he pulls his hand away before I can grab it. "AND IT DOES MATTER!"

"Calm down, Jace." Jon says soothingly.

Jace looks over in Jon's direction. "How the _fuck_ can you be so damn calm about this? Your sister had to pull a gun on a couple of creeps."

"Like she said it was taken care of, and she knows how to handle herself." Jon says assuredly and I can hear a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

"Yeah Jace. I told you she chased them off when they came up behind us at the car, so they didn't get a chance to do anything to us." Izzy adds in.

"That's not the point, anything could have happened to her, to you, to the both of you." Jace retorts. He looks back at me. "Why didn't you leave the first time they came up?" He asks, his voice still filled with anger.

"Okay first of all, the first time it was only one. Second of all, I wasn't about to let some low life run us off the beach. Third of all, I'm not some fragile china doll or some prissy bitch that can't defend herself and you know that! I handled the situation both times, and both times Izzy and I were just fine!" I snap back at him.

After everything I've done, I don't know how or even why the hell he's getting so pissy over this. They never got the chance to lay a finger on her or me when they snuck up behind us as we were loading our shit into the car to leave. My trusty .380 that was fully loaded with hollow points made sure of that. And had they tried.. well, let's just say they'd either be in the hospital or in a body bag at the city morgue. Which he knows.

"Why in the hell didn't you call me, or Jon, or any of us for that matter?!" He asks in an irate tone as he throws his arms around dramatically, as if we are in a roomful of people that he's motioning to.

I take a deep breath trying to calm my nerves before I blow up on him. "I don't need to be protected Jace."

He scoffs. "That's what you say, but what if more of them had showed up? What would you have done then? Remember what happened last time?"

I hear Izzy and Jon both gasp, and the answers I had in mind for his first two questions, as well as everything else, disappear completely.

"I can't believe you just said that." I say quietly with wide eyes as I shake my head. I'm in shock, and it hurts, that he just threw that in my face.

"Damn it!" He says to no one specifically as he closes his eyes. I suppose he just realized what the fuck just came out his mouth. He opens his eyes, takes a step towards me, and places his right hand on my cheek. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, it was a bad example."

"Very bad example." Jon mumbles under his breath as Izzy mutters, "That's an understatement."

I turn my head very slightly to my right as I cut my eyes over at them. They both look just as shocked as I do, maybe even more if that's even possible.

I look up at Jace and roll my eyes, not even a hint of playfulness to it. "Just leave me alone for now, okay."

"I'm really sorry, Clary." He says sincerely as he slides his hand away from my cheek. "It was stupid of me to say."

"Just don't okay." I whisper as I close my eyes trying to keep myself from crying. "Just don't."

"Alright." He says sadly.

I get up and walk over to the stairs. I stop with my right foot on the first stair and look back over my left shoulder at Jace, who looks like he's in agony and about ready to cry himself. I look over at Izzy, who looks at me sadly. I look to Jon, who's sitting to Izzy's right, he looks at me with a sad smile with tears in his eyes too. With a very slight sad smile, I smile back at him before starting my way up the stairs.

Once I get to mine and Jace's room I shut the door and crawl up into our bed. I bury my face in his pillow and scream. As soon I'm done screaming the tears start.

I can't believe him. I can't believe he said that. I know he says he's sorry, but is he really? Of all the things he could've mentioned, he chose to mention _that_. For crying out loud he could have fucking used some scenario that he created, but oh nooooo. Did he do it intentionally? Did he do it to prove some fucked up point? How could he? And how could he act like I was defenseless today? How could he act like I was some senseless twit that can't handle herself in a bad situation? Hell, I can handle my own and then some. I've proven that plenty of times to everybody, him especially. I take a deep breath and release it slowly trying to calm myself down so I can think clearly. Deep down I know he didn't mean anything hurtful by what he said. He couldn't have. He just loves me and worries about me is all, even though he knows I can handle whatever comes my way. _He was just upset._ I tell myself sternly. Because I wasn't the one to tell him about the incident today, and I didn't leave before it escalated to the point it did and very well could have. He was worried that he could have lost me. Yeah...

 _That's all it was._

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Now you know what Clary keeps in her car and what happened, hehe. And boy did Jace screw up BIG time! Lol.**

 **As always let me know what you think in the reviews. I love reading them, especially since I'm still nervous about this story. My reviewers ROCK! Mwah!**

 **Until tomorrow everybody!**

 **KB: You're welcome. We've really got to figure out a way to communicate, at least until you can get a device that allows you to set up a new account or you can break into your old one. Lol.**


	7. What Did They Do? (Part 2)

**Isabelle**

After Clary went upstairs, you could hear a door slam shut; and I knew it was to hers and Jace's room. For the first ten minutes - give or take a few, but I'd go with give - after that, Jace kept cussing himself about being so stupid for mentioning _that_ fight. How it just slipped out and that he didn't mean it, like it sounded. Then he spent another ten or more minutes pacing the living room floor worrying about Clary. How he hurt her and how she looked like he stuck a knife through her chest. How she was never going to forgive him for it. Finally Jon had to get up and go over to him just to get him to sit down. Then Jon told him that Clary just needed some time alone, and they could talk it over when they were both calmer. The room has been silent ever since, and Clary's been upstairs in her room for nearly an hour now, and I keep thinking of how I should have kept what happened to myself.

I'm not even really sure why I told him in the first place, other then the fact that he asked if anything interesting happened today. I should've known better though. She would have told him when she was ready to, which knowing her would've been when they went to bed tonight. And I should have texted her after I told him. Because I knew how he was going to react when she came home. I could see it in his posture, his face, and how he was completely silent; at least until she got home and started talking to him. I just didn't know or even realize that it was going to escalate to the point it did.

I figured he was just going to be mad at her and question her on why she didn't leave, and why she didn't call him and Jon, or at least call somebody to show up so the guy wouldn't bother us anymore. However, I never expected what ended up coming out of his mouth. It was an extremely bad case of H.U.A., head up ass. I know what he meant by it, he was trying to get the point across that there could've been more and that something really, _really_ bad could have happened, _again_. But that was a _horrible_ example.

I really should go check on her, and make sure she's alright. This is my fault after all, not what Jace said but the whole fighting over what happened. Even though I'm positive it would've happened once she told him.

I stand up, getting up from the couch and pulling myself away from Jon's right arm that he had draped around me.

"Where are you going?" Jon asks curiously in a sweet tone.

"To check on Clary." I say simply in a hushed tone.

Out the corner of my eye I see Jace look over at me, with a look of desperation on his face.

"What time is it?" Jon asks to no one in particular.

"11:33." Jace says simply but there's something in his tone that sounds as if it's a mixture of sadness and hurt.

"OH!" Jon yells as he jumps up off the couch. He starts towards the stairs. "I'll be back."

"Where are you going?" I ask suspiciously with my eyebrows furrowed together.

"I'm going to get Clary." Jon hollers as he makes his way up the stairs. "We've got something that the two of you _have_ to see."

"I wonder what that's all about." I say as I look towards Jace.

He shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know but he seemed pretty excited about it." The expression on his face never changing.

"True." I say simply as I sit back down on the couch.

The two of us fall back into silence as we wait for Jon to return with Clary. I wonder what this is all about. They were gone for a good while earlier, and he did say that they were taking care of some business. Holy shit...

 _What did they do, this time?_

* * *

 **Jace**

When Jon came back downstairs nearly ten minutes later, by himself no less, he started fooling around with the television and remote as I watched the stairs hopefully. Just as I was certain that I had hurt Clary so much that I accidentally managed to push her away, and possibly forever, she came downstairs looking as if she had just been woken up.

Without a single word she walked over to the couch and sat down beside me, laying her head on my right shoulder.

"I _really_ am sorry, I didn't mean-" I begin.

"I know." She says simply, interrupting my apology that I've been rehearsing in my head for over an hour. She tilts her head back, looking up at me. "Will you just hold me?"

Wow! That's the last thing I expected her to say or to even want from me.

"Of course." I say lovingly with a very small smile. I wrap my right arm around her shoulders, my hand resting on her waist, as she snuggles up to me. I slide my left arm over and place my hand on her hip. "So what are we watching anyway?"

"You'll see." Clary and Jon say simultaneously, and I can feel Clary grin against my chest. I'm glad she's still able to smile after what I did to her.

"What did you two do?" I ask suspiciously yet intrigued.

"Nothing!" They say innocently in unison.

"Uh oh, this can't be good." Izzy says teasingly. "You two both acting innocent and saying everything at the same time, that can only mean one thing."

"Yeah, that they did something evil." I say confidently with a chuckle. I shake my head slightly with a smile on my face. "It _always_ does."

"Why do you people always think we did something evil?" Clary asks in mock hurt.

"Yeah, y'all act like we're _always_ up to no good." Jon adds in sounding a little offended.

"You seem to forget that I seen the looks on your faces yesterday." I point out. "So I knew you two were up to something."

They both laugh, Jon's mischievously and Clary's is more of a deep evil laugh.

"Wait a minute." Izzy says dramatically. "Did you two track down those guys?"

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see." Clary says mysteriously as she leans up slightly. "But I can guarantee that you're both going to get a kick out of it."

"Alright, alright, it's time to settle down." Jon says as he turns around from in front of the television. He motions to it with both hands, like he's showing it off for an advertisement, with his mischievous grin. "I now present another Princess of Darkness original with the help of yours truly, the Prince of Darkness."

The three of us laugh at his dramatics; Clary's being more of a deep, evil and mischievous, chuckle.

She definitely did something and it was probably mean; but if it was to the two pricks from earlier today, they deserved it. Fuck with my woman and suffer the wrath of both, heaven and hell.

The sorry sons of bitches should just be glad I wasn't there when they pulled that shit. I would've bashed their damn skulls into the pavement where they once stood, _after_ I beat the living hell out of them. I mean, I know Clary can take care of herself but that's not the point. Yeah she handled them, but she shouldn't of had to. I should have been there to keep it from ever happening, I'm suppose to protect her. I've seen her take down guys more than three times my size but one day something that I don't like to think about could happen, _again_. And I just don't know what I would do if I ever lost her. I'd loss my mind that's for sure, and I'd track down the mother fucker that took her from me. Then I'd make him beg for mercy as I made him suffer _very slowly, and very painfully, until after_ he took his last breath. But I wouldn't know how to live without ever seeing her face again, and that is the most terrifying thing of all.

Clary lightly taps my chest repeatedly with her right hand bringing me out of my dark thoughts, and I realize Jon isn't standing by the television anymore. "Here we go." She says enthusiastically.

The television switches over to a live security camera feed of some bedroom, and there is somebody asleep in the bed.

"It shouldn't be much longer now." Clary whispers excitedly and I can feel her body tense up from the excitement against me.

"What is this?" I ask curiously in a hushed tone.

"Shhh." She says simply. She moves her right hand off my chest and points towards the television. "Watch." She lays her hand back over my heart just as girly screaming starts.

Jon and Clary, knowing what they did, bust out laughing loudly.

Sheets go to balling up, catching the legs and arms of whoever it is that's trying to escape. After wrestling with the sheets for about three minutes the person escapes, jumping out of the bed like it was on fire and revealing Todd. He yanks the covers completely off the bed which has two crabs and a snake on it, which causes him to scream even louder.

The four of us are laughing hysterically the entire time. I'm laughing so hard that I think I may cry and it's starting to become hard to breath. So I take a deep breath trying to calm myself and restore some oxygen to my body.

Todd slowly reaches down with his left hand towards his pillows and jerks it back quickly just as the snake slithers closer to him. With lightening speed he reaches down one last time and snatches something, it's a piece of notebook paper.

 _My Dear, Dear, Sweet Todd,_

Clary shushes us as he begins reading it out loud.

 _Did you really think that you could plan a prank as lame as putting frozen marbles in my bed and then throwing ice water on me, so that no matter what I did I couldn't get away from the cold, and that I wouldn't pay you back for it? Well the dozen crabs are payback for that._

"A dozen crabs!" Todd says baffledly as he starts looking around. He shakes his head. "I don't see a dozen crabs."

 _As for the snake, well... that's for not telling us when you were coming back, and then being back and not letting any of us know._

 _Thought you were slick didn't you? But you're definitely not as slick as me, which I have now proven. As I stand here writing this, I'm still not sure how you can sleep with the snake and all the crabs in your bed with you. It's baffling! And I'm a little disappointed as I had hoped to see your reaction in person but I guess that's not going to happen, so I'll have to settle for the next best thing._

 _Guess I'll talk to you later, now that you know I know that you're back in town. Oh and a word to the wise, don't ever try to prank me again because_ _I will always_ _pay you back ten times worse. Which means the next time will be worse than this round._

 _Your Loving Friend,_

 _Clary_

As he reads the letter out loud his eyes get wider and wider, until they're the size of silver dollars and his eyebrows have disappeared up in his hair. "CLARY!" He shouts after he finishes the letter, which causes us to start laughing again.

He should have known it was her. He was warned, so I think a good ole fashioned 'I told you so' is in order the next time I see him.

He snatches the blankets off the floor and crabs go to flying everywhere which causes him to scream again.

"Damn it, Clarissa!" He says as he tries to step around crabs, and we're still laughing at him. "Never again!" He mutters as he grabs a backpack from by his desk. "Never, _ever_ a-fucking-gain!"

"That's what I thought you'd say." Clary says in laughter.

"Who's the bitch now?" Jon says mimicking ' _Eddie Griffin from The New Guy_ ' through his laughter.

"Bet he'll neverrr try shit like that again." Clary says confidentially as she continues to laugh.

"So that's what you two have been up to." I say in laughter.

"How did you get the crabs and snake to stay in his bed?" Izzy asks through laughter.

Clary takes a deep breath, calming her laughter slightly. "Easy. I just tucked the sheets under his mattress _really_ tightly." Clary explains as she uses her hands to mimic tucking sheets.

"How the hell did you two pull this off?" Izzy asks incredulously still laughing.

"This is Jon and Clary you're talking about here." I say as I look over at Jon and then Clary when I say their names. "Do you really need to ask?"

"Yes." Izzy replies simply. "I wanna know how they got it all set up."

Jon sighs and his laughter calms. "Well, Clary is the one that came up with the plan."

"Then I enlisted Jonny to help." Clary says simply, no longer laughing as before but still chuckling.

"We stopped and bought the crabs on the way there." Jon adds in.

"And I had already bought the boa earlier today, after the beach when I dropped you off." Clary says proudly.

"That's where you went when you said you had to go take care of some personal business?" Izzy asks intriguingly her laughter stopping.

"Yep." Clary says popping her p. She shifts, putting her back against me with my arm still around her, as she looks over in Izzy and Jon's direction. "When Jace and Jonny got here, he got it out of my car and put it in his truck. That's what took him longer to get inside."

"Then y'all told us you were going for a drive to spend some quality time together." I chime in helpfully.

"I'll say they did." Izzy says with a chuckle.

Clary and Jon laugh.

"Anyways." Clary says with a sigh and I feel her smile against my arm.

"Once we got to his place, Clary told his aunt what we were doing and how it was payback for a prank that he set up on her before he left." Jon explains with a laugh.

"She laughed and was completely down for letting us do it too." Clary says in laughter. She takes a deep breath, stopping her laughter. "Then I positioned the camera where Todd wouldn't be able to see it and Jonny got to work on getting everything hooked up and set. While he did that I tucked the sheets in on the left side of the bed, then I stuck the snake and crabs underneath on the other side."

"I'm surprise he didn't wake up when you yelled." Jon says in amazement with a chuckle as he interrupts her explanation of the events that took place.

"That damn crab bit me." Clary says loudly through her teeth. "If he hadn't been needed, I would've brought it home and made it dinner."

We all laugh at her and she sighs again, this time with a bit of annoyance to it.

"Okay back to what happened." She says exasperatedly. "As Jonny rechecked everything and made sure that we had a good angle with the security camera, I wrote the note and slipped it under his pillow. We admired our handy work up close for a few minutes before we came home, and you guys know the rest."

"I bet that boy could sleep through a hurricane." I say jokingly with a laugh.

"He can!" The three of them say simultaneously, with certainty.

"You two definitely did a number on him." I say as I shake my head slightly with a laugh.

"We know." Clary and Jon say proudly in unison.

I knew the two of them were up to something. I didn't imagine it would be like this though, this was _definitely_ one of their epic pranks. I think it may even surpass the one they pulled on me when we were kids with the whole shark bit they did. But then again, I did know that whatever they were planning was going to be good. And I have to say I'm not disappointed...

 _They definitely brought it._

* * *

 **As always I hope you enjoyed.**

 **Thoughts? The prank?** **Let me know in the reviews. Mwah!**

 **Until tomorrow!**


	8. Countdown Begins

**Jonathan**

"I don't want to spend the entire day searching for a building." I say exasperatedly as me and Jace pull up to the gas pumps at the convenience store. "It's not as if we should waste the entire day, and not to mention the gas, just driving around in hopes that we find something."

"Honestly, I don't either." Jace says with a sigh. He opens the passenger door and gets out. " _But,_ I promised Alec when he called yesterday, that we'd check out the one he heard about."

He shuts the door as I'm getting out on my side.

"Well, I say after that, we call it a day." I say hopeful as I open the gas cap. "What do you think?"

"I agree." He says as he walks around the back of my truck. "I still have some stuff I need to get ready for tomorrow and we're hitting a brick wall in our search."

"I hear that!" I say sliding my credit card at the pump. "I say until we find more listings, we should let the rubber cool down from the blacktop."

"It would definitely save us money on gas and tires, and it would give us more quality time with the girls before they go back to school." Jace says agreeing happily as he's leaned back against the bed of the truck.

"Besides, I have _got_ to go pick up Clary's present." I say dramatically as I pump gas.

Jace eyebrows furrow together. "I thought you were doing that yesterday." He says sounding a little confused.

I shrug. "I called and paid for it yesterday morning while you were dealing with the catering companies, now I just have to go get it."

"Oh. Well then, after we're done looking at that place we can either go get that and the stuff I need to do taken care of, or you can drop me off at the house and I can get my truck." He laughs. "You know, so you don't have to be tortured again."

I laugh. "I don't think torture is the word I'd use to describe it." I say simply.

It really wasn't torture, it was more entertaining than anything. Watching Jace run down aisle after aisle like a chicken with his head cut off was actually pretty damn amusing. I was only tortured by the fact that we couldn't find or get _all_ the things he wanted, or that we needed to get.

And since tomorrow's Clary's birthday, I really do need to go pick up her present _today_. I can't wait until she sees it, I'm sure she's going to love it. But I'm cutting it really close to the deadline, and I don't like that at all. I sigh inwardly. I'm just glad that...

 _There's one more day to go_.

* * *

 **Clary**

Me and Izzy went to check out the building that we talked about while we were at the beach yesterday. We waited until after Jace and Jon left by themselves for their day of site hunting, again, since Alec had to work today. I remember the guys saying that they didn't want to pay so much for it, even though they loved it, and that the guy wouldn't do lease to own. So maybe we can take out a loan or something to get it for them, and surprise them.

The man, Mr Howard, has shown us through the entire building since we are posing as potential buyers, instead of letting him know what we're up to. It's a really nice place. It is in good, if not great, shape and has three bay doors on one side of the garage with a decent size office and lobby attached to it.

I clear my throat as we walk back to the front, breaking the silence. "How big is the lot?"

"It is 11,600 square foot, Ms Fairchild." Mr. Howard replies from a step ahead of us, as he points out a window as we pass it.

I decided to use my mother's maiden name so that he didn't put two and two together with the last name Morgenstern, and I couldn't use Herondale either. Izzy's even using her mother's maiden name, so he doesn't catch onto us.

"And how big did you say the building was again?" Izzy asks curiously in a polite tone.

"The building is 6,400 square foot, Ms Trueblood." He says as he stretches his arms out to the sides. "All the space you could need to start your own shipping company."

Our awesome cover story is that we need a location for a fashion shipping company.

"Of course it will need some thorough cleaning before hand." He says bringing his arms back down to his sides. "Wouldn't want to accidentally ruin something because it fell into grease."

"No we sure wouldn't." Izzy says with a chuckle. "That would be horrible to ruin a one of a kind article of clothing."

"How much are you asking?" I ask politely in a professional tone.

"$995,500." He says simply as we make it to the lobby, which is also where the entrance to the building is.

"Would you consider going any lower?" I ask curiously with an eyebrow raised.

He sighs and it sounds a little sad to me. "I really wish I could but I still have to pay off the mortgages I have on it, and I'd like to get my money back for what I have put into it."

"Well would you consider a lease to own?" Izzy asks hopefully. Before we even met him, and came inside she said that she was going to ask. That maybe our feminine charms would persuade him.

"No sorry." He says with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'd really like to just get it sold so I don't have to mess with it anymore."

"No worries" I say sweetly. I nudge Izzy with my left elbow. "We still have a couple of other places to check out and we have to contact the bank about getting the loan."

"I understand that completely. I'm glad to see such young people with their head on their shoulders instead of in the clouds like most are." He says as we walk out the front door. "It's such a breath of fresh air."

"Well thank you!" I say with a smile as Izzy says, "Thank you!"

"We really appreciate the compliment." I add.

"Yes, it's very nice of you to say." Izzy says happily.

"You two young women are very welcome." He says warmly as he walks up between us.

The three of us begin walking to our vehicles, Izzy rode with me in my car of course.

"I hope my granddaughters grow up to be as respectable and level headed as the two of you." He says sounding a little worried.

"I'm sure they will." Izzy says confidentially as we reach the car.

"I hope you're right." He hollers over to us.

I unlock my car, turn to look over at Mr Howard, and smile as I see him climbing into his van.

"Thank you for taking the time to meet us and showing us around." I say as I open my door from behind me. "You'll be hearing from us again I'm sure."

"It was my pleasure." He says with a smile. I see him take a deep breath. "And I hope that I do."

He climbs in his van and I climb in my car, where Izzy is waiting for me.

She sighs. "Do you think we'll be able to get a loan for that much?" She asks skeptically.

"I don't know." I say honestly with a shrug. I start the car and put it in drive. "I have my trust fund as well as my checking and savings accounts through the same bank that we're going to use to try to get it, so I don't see why we couldn't."

"But we don't have jobs." She says sounding upset.

"I know." I say with a sigh as I pull out on the highway. "But with all the money in my accounts that should be enough to make them happy to give it to us. I could always-"

"You're not using your trust fund for this." Izzy says decisively.

"It's an option." I say assuredly.

"No it's not!" Izzy says loudly as she slaps my dashboard. "As much as I want us to be able to do this for them, I will not and can not allow you to use that money."

"Why not?" I ask incredulously with raised eyebrows. "And it's not like you can stop me."

"That was set up by your mom and dad for _you,_ not everybody else." She scoffs. "And I can stop you, I can tell Jonny and them that you're going to use it to help them."

"Isabelle you swore!" I yell in shock with my eyes wide as I glance over at her.

She crosses her arms over her chest. "I swore I wouldn't tell them what we were up to, I never swore not to tell about you using your trust fund to get them a place."

"Technicality." I mutter with annoyance and anger. Ugh, I don't know why she gets like this.

I don't see what the big deal is, it's my money. I am allowed to spend it anyway I want, and it's not like I have a lot to pay for after all. So if I want to do something nice for the guys that I love, I can. I could always argue that they can pay me back, if I do and she snitches on me. But hell, we don't even know if I'll need to. They could very well find a place on their own today or within the week even, so I don't see what the big deal is. It's not like it's a definite plan set in stone. And so...

 _The countdown begins!_

* * *

 **I hope you enjoyed today's chapter!**

 **Let me know what you think in the reviews.**

 **Until tomorrow. Mwah!**

* * *

 **KB: Me evil, never. Bwahaha. I'm glad you could picture it. I've actually pulled that years ago and that was how he reacted. It was so hard to write it cause I couldn't quit laughing. I kept seeing it all over again lol. YAY! Two more days to go! I hope you can get one soon. And you're very welcome!**


	9. It's Raining, It's Pouring

**Isabelle**

After mine and Clary's little tiff this morning, over the matter of her using her trust fund for that building, I decided that I needed to go for a drive to clear my head. I hate when we fight just as much as I hate when she wants to do things like that. So I drove around for about an hour before I ended up parking at our old hangout spot behind the football field; when we were all in high school we use to hide out here and throw some crazy tailgate parties.

The longer I sit here with the rain pounding down on the roof of my car, the more my mind keeps wandering though. I swear she'd rather be living in the poor house as long as it meant everybody else was happy and had what they wanted. That's what pisses me off the most. She needs to think about herself too before she runs off making hasty decisions like that. I mean come on, her parents thought about her by setting up that trust fund.

They told us the story at least a couple dozen times as we were growing up. They said that they wanted to make sure _she_ was always taken care of financially, so they set it up when Joceyln was pregnant; just like they did for Jon. _Her_ , not everybody else and their damn dog. Okay, I know they don't have a dog but that's not the fucking point. The point is that she needs to take care of herself too, and if she uses that money to get that building she'll have hardly shit to live off of. I growl audibly. I just don't know what I'm going to do with her. I love her to pieces but sometimes I think her heart may just be to big, especially for her good.

That's why I threatened with telling Jon, Jace, and Alec on her. Because I know with certainty that they'd never let her do something so selfless, even if they were going to be the ones to benefit from it. After all they've had to stop her before, we all have.

Like the time that she wanted to buy Alec a brand new truck for his birthday cause he liked it. She argued that his truck was the oldest out of all of ours, and that with him going back and forth to school it was going to end up breaking down leaving him strained on the highway so it was time for a new one; the same truck is still running strong.

There was also the time that she wanted to take the whole gang - before Magnus, Maia, and when he's around, Todd- around the world cause we were talking about places we'd all like to see.

Then there was the time she wanted to buy me a new car after my red camaro was stolen and totaled, even though the insurance company was going to write us a check to replace it since it had full coverage; her argument there was that and I quote, 'Insurance companies take to damn long and you need wheels now, not when they decide you do. You can just pay me back.' end quote, but I knew better. I know as well as everybody else that she'd never accept the money back.

This is the type of things she does, and that's what upsets me so much. When she does this the only way to stop her is to tell, so that we can all can talk her out of it; admittedly it takes _a lot_ to talk her out of it, but she eventually gives in. I'm sure it's more out of frustration and to shut us up more than anything else.

I sigh outwardly. I don't like it when we have to gang up on her, at least that's what it feels like to me. So I hope like hell that this time...

 _She comes to her senses on her own._

* * *

 **Jace**

After I made it out of the fucking rain and into the store, I walked around for at least forty-five minutes before I finally found an employee that was willing to answer my questions and seemed to know exactly what I was talking about.

"You do?" I ask excitedly as I double check that I did in fact, hear the woman I'm talking to correctly.

"Yes sir." She says amusedly with a chuckle. She gestures for me to follow her. "Right this way, and we'll get you all set up and taken care of."

"Oh thank you so much!" I say dramatically as I begin to follow her. "You're a godsend."

She laughs. "I do believe that's the first time a customer has ever told me that before."

"Well it's true." I tell her assuredly. "I've been searching for _days_."

"Well then search no longer, we have everything that you are looking for." She says confidentially.

"How long will it be before I can pick it up?" I ask curiously. "I'd like to have it by tomorrow."

"Oh, you'll be able to leave here today with it." She says as we come up to a counter at the left side of the store.

"But will it be like I want?" I ask skeptically.

She walks around the counter and kneels down.

"It will be exactly how you requested it to be." She says reassuringly with a smile as she stands up holding a brown box in her hands.

"See I told you, you were a godsend." I say with certainty.

"Thank you." She says with a chuckle. "What makes this so important? If you don't mind me asking."

"It's for my fiancé, tomorrow's her birthday and it's something she wanted." I explain proudly with a grin.

I can't believe this is actually happening, I'm finally catching a break! After what feels like forever, I've finally found something I was looking for; something I wanted _and_ needed. I'm completely ecstatic and even though it is raining, I don't think there's anything that can bring me down from this high I'm feeling. After Jon's great idea and now _this_ , today just...

 _Keeps getting better!_

* * *

 **Jonathan**

 _It's raining; it's pouring. The old man is snoring. He went to bed and bumped his head, And couldn't get up in the morning._

I keep singing repeatedly on my way home. It's the same nursery rhyme we use to sing when we were younger and even though I'm twenty-three, the song still haunts me when it rains. And if it's raining and I'm with Clary, she's the one that starts it. She thinks it's hilarious to get it stuck in my head.

Speaking of Clary, I have done stopped and picked up her birthday present, and have even managed to get her a couple of others to go with it. I feel fucking good knowing that even though I've cut it pretty damn close, I still managed to knock this year out the ballpark!

Now that I'm only thirty miles away from home, I can't help but thinking about her and her presents. I so glad that I can easily hide them away from her. She's always been the worst when it comes to trying to surprise her. If she knows that I've gotten her something, she'll go snooping until she finds it or talks me into giving it to her. Then she gets mad at me for spending money on her. She's a mess that way, but I do happen to find it quite amusing. She's like I want it, I want it, and then it's, yeah I wanted it but why did you spend money on me. Even now I can't help but to chuckle at the thought of it.

I can't help but to think about this storm too. A few mornings ago when we were actually paying attention to the news, the meteorologist said that there was a tropical storm heading our way but the worst of it should miss us completely. However, the rain is starting to come down so hard that it's beginning to obstruct my view out the windshield and the road harder to see. Damn I really don't want to have to pull over on the side of the highway but it looks like I don't have much choice. I'm going to have too, at least until...

 _It slacks up some._

* * *

 **Hope you have enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Let me know what you think with a review.**

 **Until tomorrow. Mwah!**

* * *

 **KB: I'm glad you're enjoying this! Yes, I really did the prank. He moved away and when he came in for a visit he didn't tell me, his excuse was that he wanted to surprise me so instead I surprised him. Lmao. Fingers and toes are crossed that the new account works! Summer time for you! YAY!**


	10. Warning

**Song(s) used or mentioned: Dustin Lynch - Where It's At**

* * *

 **Clary**

I dropped Izzy off at her mom's house and out of curiosity, I went to my bank to talk to a loan officer. I was approved for a loan if I want it but not for the full amount of the building since I really don't have credit since my house was paid off and in my mom's name when it was given to me, and her and Luke bought me my car. The loan officer did say that if I wanted to take out a mortgage on the house and add the car as collateral he could get me the amount I was asking for. I told him that I was just wondering at the moment and wasn't even sure about the place yet, that I still had a lot of thinking to do before I made any decisions about any of it. Then I thanked him for his time and left.

When I finally made it home Jon's truck was still gone but Jace's was gone as well. I figure they had two appointments at the same time, so they had to split up. It sure wouldn't be the first time. So I went inside and ate a late lunch; which turned out to be left over steak thrown on two slices of bread with steak sauce, yum!

Now I'm laid up on my comfy couch, bored with the television on. I'm not even sure what it is I'm watching though, since I'm hardly paying any attention to it because all I want to do is take a nap.

The summer heat this year is killer, even though it is raining now. It's getting to the point that I don't even want to leave home cause all I want to do is stay in the air conditioner. But I won't do it because that's just not who I am.

My phone goes off, with an emergency alert. I pull it out as the television starts with an emergency alert sound.

 _We interrupt your normal broadcasting to inform you, our viewers, that the National Weather Service has issued a hurricane warning for our area. Please take the necessary steps to prepare. Make sure your windows are boarded up, anything in your yard is secured down, and that you have enough provisions to last. We repeat, The National Weather Service has issued a hurricane warning for our area. Stay tuned for the latest updates or follow us online._

Just fucking great! I have to start boarding up windows and the sliding door. I don't think there is anything out in the backyard to worry about thankfully. Jace and Jon are out in this mess somewhere, Alec and Maryse are at work, Izzy and Magnus are I don't know where, Bat and Maia most likely already know, SHIT...

 _What about Celine?_

* * *

 **Jace**

"She told me she didn't want a party the other night when we were making dinner." My mom says as she puts away a couple of plates. "That we were just having a nice dinner at a restaurant."

"That's what she wants but I think she deserves more than that." I say as I hand her the last two plates out of the dishwasher.

"Well of course you do!" She says with a smile. "And you're right."

"I am?" I ask amused and a little shocked.

It's shocking to finally have someone agree with me right off the bat on this. Jon and Alec thought I should just let Clary have what she wanted at first but after I made my case of how she would make sure that all of us had a party and not just a birthday dinner they finally started caving.

"Yes!" She says simply as she puts the plate up. She smiles slyly. " _My girl_ deserves the best of everything."

I laugh. "Well you're not the only one that thinks _my girl_ deserves just that."

"She's the best, and you two deserve each other." She says confidentially in her serious tone. She sighs. "I'm really glad you're doing this for her, I'm proud of you."

"Thanks for everything mom!" I say sweetly with a smile.

"Anything at anytime for the two of you." She says assuredly with a smile as she hugs me.

"You know the same thing goes for you, too." I say decisively as I hug her back. "We're just a call away if you ever need anything, night or day."

Just then my phone goes off, playing ' _Where It's At by Dustin Lynch'_ so I know exactly who it is.

I pull back from my mom's embrace with a chuckle. "That's Clary now."

"Tell her I say hi." She says with a grin as I pull my phone out.

 **DON'T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE AT, BUT WE'RE IN A HURRICANE WARNING! -C**

I groan as I text back.

 **Seriously?! For how long now? Did you warn the others? -J**

"What's wrong? Is she alright?" My mom asks worriedly.

"Yeah, we're in a hurricane warning." I explain simply as I wait for a text back from Clary.

 **YES! It came across t.v. not even 5 minutes ago! 1st message was sent to the whole gang! -C**

"I'll go get the hammer and nails." She says slightly panicked as she walks off.

 **I'm about to head to your mom's, somebody has to help her board up! -C**

 **I'm at mom's now so I'll help her! You get started on the house and I'll be there as soon as I'm done here. -J**

 **Is Jon there? -J**

 **No, I'm here by myself. -C**

 **SHIT! Ok, well get started and I'll be there soon. -J**

 **Be safe! I love you! -C**

 **I will. You be careful! I love you too! -J**

 **Call me if you need me before I get there! -J**

 **I will! If you need help let me know! -C**

 **Alright! -J**

I shove my phone in my pocket and take off running to the garage to start grabbing plywood for the windows. There's _no way_ I'm going to call her if I do end up needing help. She has enough to worry about on her own.

I grab three sheets, take them to the back yard and get to work; my mom handing me more nails as I need them. _This is the worst part about living in Florida._ I tell myself. But, the hurricane parties are great! We cook everything before it has a chance to go bad. Clary has a generator in the basement so we probably won't have to much to worry about there, but everywhere else... Oh just fucking lovely, I hope this...

 _Doesn't ruin her party tomorrow!_

* * *

 **Alec**

My phone goes off so I roll over and grab it. It's a text message from Clary about us being in a hurricane warning. I tap Magnus with my left hand which is resting on his stomach. He moans and rolls over pinning my arm and hand underneath him.

"Magnus, wake up." I say sternly as I shake him with my right hand.

So I played hookie today from searching for a location and spent the day with Magnus in his bed. So what? I know I could have told Jon and Jace what I planned to do today but they didn't ask, they just assumed I had to work when I told Jace yesterday that I couldn't go with them.

"What is it Alexander?" He says through a moan.

"Hurricane warning." I explain simply.

He doesn't need a long explanation, he's been in hurricanes before and besides it just waste precious time that we need to start preparing for it.

Magnus jumps out of the bed in a single bound, the sheet falling away from his body, revealing him in nothing but the shorts he threw on when he answered the door earlier.

As he faces me I stare at his washboard abs, the smooth skin that covers them, and his happy trail that disappears underneath the shorts. Damn this hurricane picked a hell of a time. I should be running my hands all over his body right now but I can't since we have to get to work.

"Well then get up so we can hop to it!" He says as he grabs his blue shirt off the foot of the bed. "We haven't got all day."

"I know." I say with a sigh as I stand up to search for my clothes.

"I still have the boards from last time in the storage room." He says from behind me.

I finally find my boxer briefs and start to slide them on. "Alright. But As soon as we're done I'm going to have to head home and so I can get everything taken care of there."

"You can go now if you need to, I can take care of this and then meet you there to help." He says assuredly as I slide my pants up.

"No let's get this place taken care of first." I say decisively as I button my pants, and then grab my shirt off the floor. I pull my shirt on as we walk out the bedroom. "There's no sense in going there and then coming back here to board it up."

"Good point." He says as we make our way to his storage room.

I hope the rest of the gang is taking the proper precautions. I know they know cause Clary message was a group text. I'm sure she's already begun on her house and that when she finishes she'll start on somebody else's, so I need to hurry up and get this done so I can help her. Usually we all get together and knock out all our houses, including Celine's and then help the other neighbors with theirs. But I don't have a clue where everybody is. Jace and Jon are still on the road apparently since she texted them. She texted Izzy too, which means she could be anywhere from the mall to at our mom's job. Bat and Maia are probably already started on their place, or asleep; since he's been working long shifts and she's working nights now. Oh please...

 _Let this miss us!_

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Let me know what you think in the reviews.**

 **Until tomorrow!. Mwah!**


	11. Fly

**Jonathan**

After Clary's text message I drove as fast as I could manage without wrecking, all the way home. I sped through yellow lights, yielded at stop signs, and drove above the speed limit.

Now as I pull into the garage, I push the emergency brake down and skid to a halt. I cram the gear shift up into park and quickly turn the ignition switch, killing the motor. I leave my keys in the ignition, jump out the truck, and take off to the house.

"CLARY!" I yell as I rush into the house.

No answer. Where the hell is she? I ask myself worriedly as I start to panic.

I run upstairs. "CLARISSA!"

I quickly sling open her bedroom door, still no Clary. Did she go to a neighbors house? No she wouldn't have done that. She said she was at home by herself, when I asked where she was. so she would still be here. Maybe she's outside, doing exactly what I told her _not_ to do by herself. It wouldn't surprise me, she's to stubborn to listen.

"CLARISSA ADELE MORGENSTERN!" I shout as I run out the sliding door.

"WHAT?!" She hollers back from what sounds like a good distance away.

I look to my left and she's not there, so I look to my right. I don't see her but I do see the ladder and pulley system is set up. I built that for her when I was working off shore to make things a little easier for her. I made it so she wouldn't have to try carrying lumber up, instead she just sticks the five sheets she needs on it, pushes a button and it raises it up for her.

I look up and she's on the roof of the first floor of the house.

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?" I yell up to her in annoyance.

"What's it look like I'm doing?" She answers sarcastically as she drives the last nail into the last sheet of plywood. She turns around and looks down at me with a sly smile. "I'm casing the joint."

I growl. "Get your smartass down here!"

"And who's gonna make me?" She asks teasingly as she puts her right hand, which is still holding the hammer, on her hip with her eyebrows raised. "You?"

"If you don't get down here, you're gonna find out." I say confidentially with my eyebrows raised.

"You don't scare me, Jon-a-than." She says tauntingly as she starts walking across the roof.

"Just get your ass down here." I say sternly as I place both of my fists on my hips.

"Aye, aye, captain." She says as she takes her right hand off the ladder and giving a salute.

"Damn it Clary, hold on to the ladder before you fall." I yell worriedly as I reach out for her, as if I could stop her if she started to fall.

She laughs. "Chill out Big Brother, I've got this."

"You don't know that, it's raining for crying out loud." I say as I throw my arms out to indicate the rain, as if she's forgotten.

"Is it really? I hadn't noticed." She retorts sarcastically as she looks up.

She jumps off the ladder and I feel like I just swallowed my heart as I reach for her like I could catch her from here . She lands on her feet and looks over at me.

She shrugs. "I guess it is, and here I thought a bird was pissing on me cause I made it mad."

I take a deep breath. I didn't realized until just now that I hadn't been breathing since she jumped.

"Why do you always have to be so stubborn and such a smartass?" I ask through my teeth.

"Why do you always have to act like a dumbass and that I'm fragile?" She asks exasperatedly as she starts walking towards the large tool shed. "You know I've done this more times than I can count."

She walks in the shed and after a short moment she emerges with a sheet of plywood.

"Now, are you going to help or just stand around looking pretty while I do all the work?" She asks dramatically as she carries the plywood towards the house.

I shake my head at her. "I always look pretty honey child. Now what did you do with the nails?"

"Over there." She says simply as she raises her chin, indicating her tool bag by the ladder.

I head over to the shed and grab my tool bag, I strap it around my waist and grab a sheet of plywood before I head back up to the house to help Clary. While she works on one window, I start another and my mind starts wandering. Where is Izzy? Her car wasn't at home. Is she alright? I'm sure she's fine but I really wish she'd get her ass home. Alec wasn't at home either, but he's probably still at work or on his way. When we get done here, I'll go over and start boarding up their house. I know Clary will help, that's kinda our groups thing; we help each other out and then the neighbors. Well I guess...

 _It's time to fly, Git-R-Done!_

* * *

 **Clary**

As me and Jon were putting the boards on the front of our house, Izzy showed up. I told her that as soon as we were down, we were going to head over to her house and get started on it. So she stayed and helped us. She held the boards in place for me as I nailed them. With it being the three of us we were able to finish it up pretty quickly.

The three of us were headed over to the Lightwood house, when Alec and Magnus showed up. I had Jon go get the deal he made me, to make it a little easier, so we could get finished even sooner. Jon and Alec wouldn't allow me up on the roof to help, the ass-wipes, because they said it was to slick up there and I could fall. I informed them that they could too, but I didn't fight to hard. There wasn't any sense in it. The bottom windows needed to be done too and we didn't have precious time to waste bickering. So me and Magnus worked on them while Jon and Alec worked above us and Izzy got everything in the yard put away. When she was done, she helped with what was left of the windows, doing the same thing she did at my house. The five of us were able to fly through it, getting it done in no time at all.

Then we started to head towards Celine's house but when we got there Jace was already finished and putting the hammer and nails away. So instead we ended up getting her lawn chairs and everything in her yard taken care, whether it be putting it up or making sure it was secure to the ground.

Alec called Bat when we were done to see if he needed help over at his place but he already had it taken care of and was at his mom's house, which was taken care of too. So we weren't needed at either of those places.

Our next mission was our neighbors houses. We started helping the ones that hadn't already finished up and then the whole neighborhood hit the vacant houses. That's the thing around here, we make sure everybody is taken care of in emergencies which I think is the main reason when our parties have gotten out of control, it has only happened a couple of times with loud music and screaming from having to much fun, they've never called the law on us.

Now with everything done, I'm completely beat. I want out of these soaking wet clothes, and some tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich to help warm me back up. Then I want to snuggle up on the couch next to Jace and relax, maybe even having Alec and Magnus watch the video of the prank Jon helped me pull on Todd, before we go to bed. With all of the excitement today...

 _Time sure did fly._

* * *

 **Jace**

After I changed out of my wet clothes, I went to help Clary in the kitchen. While she cooked, I set out bowls and spoons on the island. Then I started putting the cheese on the buttered bread for her to cook as she needed them.

Since the soup and sandwiches were done by the time everybody was finished getting cleaned up and dressed in clean dry clothes, Alec and Magnus wearing some of mine and Jon's, we all sat down in front of the television to watch the weather and ate. Once everyone was done eating, me and Jon loaded the dishwasher while the girls went upstairs to talk. I don't know what they talked about, but when they came back arm in arm with smiles on their faces. That was when Clary suggested that we watch, as she dubbed it, 'The Todd Prank Video' since today was stressful and we all needed a good laugh; plus, Alec and Magnus hadn't seen it yet.

Now Alec and Magnus are snuggled together on the loveseat, Clary is snuggled up to me asleep on my shoulder and Izzy's asleep on Jon's as we sit on the couch, while we watch the weather again to keep an eye on this storm; which we've been doing since the video has been over. Nothing has changed, we still have a chance of the hurricane hitting us.

"Well I guess I'm going to take this one to bed." I say tiredly in a low voice so that I don't wake the girls.

I reach over to my right, sliding my left arm under Clary's legs. I adjust my right arm behind her as she moans groggily and wraps her arms around my neck. I pull her over into my lap and begin to stand up as she buries her face in my neck.

"It is getting late, so I should probably get going." Magnus says exhaustedly with a yawn.

"That's crazy talk." I say in a loud whisper. I look over at Jon, who looks tired himself. "Tell him."

"Yeah, we've got plenty of rooms here." Jon says as he points over his shoulder with his right thumb towards the stairs. "And you know you're always welcome to stay here, so pick one."

"I was thinking about heading home myself." Alec says as he stands up. "You can always go home with me."

"There isn't anybody going to be home, so why don't both of you just stay here." I say knowingly.

"How do you know?" Alec asks suspiciously.

"Clary and Izzy told me earlier after they called to check on your mom and Max." I explain as I start to walk around the couch. "They're going to be staying the night at your dad's place. He told them to stay since his place is closer to your mom's job so she wouldn't have to drive as far in this mess and Max was already there."

"Well that's nice of him." Magnus says sweetly yet assuredly as he reaches for Alec's left hand.

"Yeah I just wish someone would have told me." Alec says with a hint of annoyance to his tone.

"They just did." Jon says with a chuckle.

"You know what I mean." Alec says dramatically.

"Listen. It's storming out, nobody needs to go out in this mess, and there is more than enough room here so pick a room and crash here tonight." I say decisively as I reach the stairs.

I know everybody is drained from the afternoon we've had and there's no point in using the last of our energy for senseless bickering. We all just need to get some rest.

"I'm sure the storm will be over by morning." I say hopefully as I put my right foot on the first stair. I start walking up the stairs. "Now I'm going to bed. Good night."

"Night" I hear Jon say back as Alec and Magnus say, "Good Night." in unison.

I open mine and Clary's bedroom door, shutting the door behind us, and walk over to the bed. I carefully lay Clary down in the middle of the bed; I know it'll do no good to lay her in 'her spot' cause as soon I lay down on the left side of the bed, she'll roll over until she finds me. Then I slide her pants off of her and cover her up with the sheet. I stare at her adoringly as I wonder how I was so fortunate to land a woman as great as her.

She's not only beautifully attractive on the outside, she's beautiful on the inside too. She's also smart, funny, and strong. Oh so very strong, and in more ways than just physically. She's supportive in all the ways that truly count. She has a heart of gold. She's my angel and she was...

 _Born to fly!_

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **As always let me know what you think in the reviews. I love reading them!**

 **Until tomorrow! MWAH!**


	12. Today's The Day

**August 23rd**

* * *

 **Clary**

I feel two pokes to my cheek as I wake slowly. Another poke and I swat at the hand that I can barely see through my slitted eyes. I growl as I get poked again, and cover my face with a pillow. It's really to early for this crap.

"Happy birthday." The muffled voice of Jace says.

"There's nothing happy about it." I say back in annoyance.

"That's not true." He says confidently as he rubs my right side.

"Yes it is, or I'd still be asleep if it was." I say certainly. "Please just let me sleep for another hour."

"I can't." He says simply as he pulls his hand away.

I groan. "Why not?"

"Cause I made you breakfast in bed." He says as he pulls the pillow from my head. "See, your favorite."

I open my eyes and see a stand with a plate of waffles, bacon, fresh strawberries, and a red rose on it.

"So you mean to tell me I eat roses now?" I say teasingly as I try to not to smile.

"Maybe." He says jokingly with a smile. He leans over and kisses my right cheek, the same one he was poking. "That's just a little something extra, in case you're still hungry."

"I have to admit it does look tastier than the rest of it." I say as sit up with a smile. "Maybe I should just start with it."

"Fine." He says in mock hurt as he grabs the tray. "I'll just eat them myself."

"Oh no you don't." I say with a laugh as I start to reach for the tray. "It's mine."

Jace pulls the tray closer to him with a mischievous grin. "Nuh uh, you criticized my cooking so no food for you."

"Fine then, I'll just back to sleep." I say with a grin as I lay back down and close my eyes.

I hear the tray as it clicks on the nightstand.

"Oh no you don't." Jace says mischievously.

Within seconds he is on top of me and pinning my hands with his own, above of my head. I open my eyes, looking up at his grinning face and the twinkle in his eyes. I lean up and kiss his lips.

"Night." I say with a smile and close my eyes again.

"You think so huh?" He says with a laugh.

He kisses my lips and begins slowly kissing his way down from there. He stops when he reaches the hollow of my neck, he places a wet kiss there and begins sucking.

"That's cheating." I say through a moan as I tighten my grip on his hands, which are still pinning mine down.

He pulls back, bringing my skin with him as he does.

"Does that mean you're going to eat before it gets cold?" He asks, his voice slightly husky, and I feel him shift his weight above me.

"Seriously?" I ask incredulously through a breath.

"Yep." He says seriously, popping the p. "You need to eat before it gets cold."

"Fine." I say dramatically with a sigh. "Give it here."

He rolls off of me, releasing my hands as he does, and starts reaching towards the night stand.

"You're such a tease." I say as I slap his ass. "And here I thought I was going to get a good morning wake up call, again."

"Here you go insulting my cooking again." He says with a chuckle.

"No." I say with a laugh as I sit back up. "I'm just saying you're a better wake up call than food."

"In that case eat," Jace says as he sits the tray in front of me. He covers my lips with his, he sucks my bottom lip into his mouth as he pulls away smiling. "And we'll see what can be arranged afterwards."

I smile with a groan. "Using sexual manipulation to get me to do what you want, touché."

He laughs. "Don't play innocent, you do it too."

I scoff and pull my hands to my chest, acting hurt by his statement. "I do no such thing."

"You damn sure do." He says confidently with a laugh. "Now eat."

I look at the tray again, getting a good look this time. I look back up at him.

"Do I not get coffee?" I ask innocently.

"Of course you do, but I have to go get it." He says with a smirk as he stands up, getting off the bed. "But I had a feeling you'd need persuading to wake up and didn't want it to get knocked over in the process. I'll go get it"

"Oh I see how it is now, you had it planned to tease me this morning." I say certainly with raised eyebrows and a half smile.

He laughs as he turns and starts walking towards the door.

"Hey, Jace." I call out as he reaches the door.

He stops and looks back over at me.

"Thank you!" I say sweetly with a smile.

"You're welcome, Clary." He says with a sweet smile. "I'll be right back with your coffee."

I watch as he walks out the door, shutting it behind him, and then back to the tray that he so lovingly made me. I think how truly fortunate I am to have him as I start eating on the waffles. He does everything he can to make me happy, even though I don't think he realizes that it's the little things like this that truly make me happy.

My thoughts are interrupted when I hear loud talking from downstairs. I can only make out bits and pieces but there's something about the birthday girl and being awake mentioned. I shake my head slightly as I take another bite of my waffles. I can see it now, this birthday girl is in for...

 _An interesting day._

* * *

 **Jace**

Today's the day! Yes, it's still storming out which ruined one of the surprises I had in store for her. But damn it, I'm determined to do my best to make sure that the rest of Clary's birthday isn't a complete wash.

I've already surprised her with breakfast in bed like I had planned. Which seemed to go over pretty well considering she didn't want to wake up and I had to use my power of persuasion to get her to eat. When she's done eating, I'm going to finish what I started though. I'm going to make slow, passionate lo-

"So the birthday girl is awake?" Jon asks eagerly, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yeah she's awake." I say pouring her cup of coffee. "She's eating right now."

"Well, since she's awake, I'm going to go see her." Izzy says determinedly, and storms off up the stairs.

I sigh inwardly. Well, I guess there goes me finishing what I started, at least for a while longer than I had hoped.

"Have you given her your birthday present yet?" Jon asks curiously.

"No, not yet." I turn to face him with a cup of coffee in each hand, one for Clary and one for myself. "I hid it over at my mom's so she couldn't find it."

"Smart." Jon says impressively with a nod. "I stashed mine in my truck."

"What would you have done if she had got in your truck and found it?" I ask with a laugh.

"Oh no, she wouldn't have found it." He says confidently with a smile as he shakes his head slightly. "I stashed it really good."

"If you say so." I say with a chuckle. "This is Clary we're talking about here."

"I know that's why it's not in the house." He says proudly with a smile.

I look over toward the stairs to make sure Clary isn't coming down them, then I look back to Jon and step closer to him.

"You did double check with the others about coming today like I asked right?" I whisper as I cut my eyes back over to the entrance of the stairs.

"Yeah, and as long as this storm doesn't get worse the gang will be there." He whispers back putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Good." I say in an exhaled breath. "I just wish I could've got your mom and Luke down here for her."

"I wish I could've too." Jon says sadly. "It would've been great to see her face when they showed up."

"Right." I say with a sigh. "Well, I guess I better get her, her coffee before it gets cold."

He laughs while taking his hand off my shoulder. "Yeah, I don't want to deal with the monster that's unleashed because of the lack of caffeine."

"I hear that." I say with a chuckle as I start for the stairs. "But she's not _that_ bad."

"If you say so." He says jokingly.

As I walk up the stairs I get more excited about the events I have planned for today. It's going to take some rearranging since the weather didn't cooperate but I think I can pull it off. I know she's going to be surprised but I hope like hell that she likes it since she's not a big fan of surprises. Boy is my birthday girl in for...

 _One hell of a day!_

* * *

 **Alec**

"Where's everybody at?" I ask Jon as I walk into the kitchen.

"Upstairs with the birthday girl." He says with a mouthful of food. "You can go up if you want, I am when I'm done."

"I think I need a cup of coffee before I climb back up those stairs." I say as I open the cupboard and grab a cup.

It might sound crazy with us living right across the street from each other, but this place is like home away from home for me. That's why I am able to find everything so easily here, Jon and Clary are the same way at our house. I guess it helps with the fact that the four of us literally grew up together we were all in diapers together for crying out loud; it was Jon and me at first, next came Clary, and then Izzy.

"Where's Magnus?" Jon asks curiously. "Still in bed?"

"No. He had to get up early to be at work this morning." I explain as I pour myself a cup of coffee.

"He's still going to make it later though right?" Jon asks worriedly. "I mean he said he would and... well, you know."

"He'll be there." I say assuredly as I turn to look at him. "So, who cooked?"

"Jace." He laughs. "He thought he was feeding an army."

He points to the center of the island. There's a plate with about two dozen ten inch waffles on it, and a bowl half filled with bacon.

"That's not much." I say confusedly with my eyebrows furrowed together.

"That's just what's left. Me and Izzy have eaten already, and he made Clary a plate with four waffles and a handful of bacon." He pouts. "She even got strawberries."

"Poor mistreated Jonny." I say cooingly with a chuckle.

"Oh I snuck some when he wasn't looking." He whispers with a smirk

"You're as bad as a kid." I say with a laugh as I shake my head slightly at him with a smile.

He scoffs. "Not uh."

"If you say so." I say in laughter.

"I don't have to take this." He says dramatically as he lifts his chin up. "I'm going to see my sister."

"You mean you're going to run off and tell on me." I say still laughing at him.

"Possibly." He says simply and starts stomping away towards the living room entrance like a child.

"Hey, you're going the wrong way." I point to the stair well entrance. "She's that way."

He stops and looks over his shoulder at me with a grin.

He winks. "I've got to go get her birthday stuff from the truck."

"I didn't have to worry about hiding mine, it's in my wallet." I say proudly.

"Mine wouldn't fit in my wallet." He says with a chuckle as he starts walking out through the entrance. "If you get up there before I get back, tell her I'll be up in a few."

"Alright." I say simply.

I start drinking my coffee and think of how the present in my wallet isn't the only thing I've got to surprise her with this year. I can't wait to see her face but I have to wait until Magnus gets back, since he wants to be there to see it too. I can however give her the smaller surprise now. Today, for once...

 _We're going to be able to surprise her!_

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Let me know what you think in the reviews!**

 **Until the next update! Mwah!**


	13. And The Surprises Begin

**Jace**

I sit on the edge of the bed as I hand Clary the nice pair of jeans that she had me get for her out of our dresser, instead of her usual holey ones like last night. I watch as Clary stands up in front of me and begins to pull them on. She's getting dressed so my plans of finishing what I started earlier have definitely been postponed.

"So what all are you planning to do today, stay in bed?" Izzy asks Clary, while she's laying across the width of mine and Clary's bed.

"Well, I have a hot date in about a hour or so." She says as she buttons her pants. "Unless the weather has canceled those plans."

"A date?" I asks curiously. I don't remember us making any plans to go out this early today.

"Yes, a date." She says as she leans over putting her hands on my knees.

"With who?" I ask with an eyebrow raised.

She smiles and gives me a quick kiss on the lips. "Jealous?"

I tilt my head slightly to my left. "That didn't answer my question."

"I know." She says simply with a knowing smile still on her face. "And you didn't answer mine, so we're even."

Izzy laughs. "You two are something else."

"We know." Me and Clary say proudly, simultaneously, while still looking into each others eyes. We both grin at each other.

"Knock, knock." Alec says as he lightly knocks on the bedroom door while opening it with a smile. "What's going in here?"

"Clary's got a hot date and Jace is getting jealous." Izzy says dramatically with a laugh. "What are youu doing?"

"Come to see the birthday girl of course." He says walking over to Clary.

She stands up and turns around looking in his direction, instead of just looking over her shoulder like she had been. When he reaches her he wraps his arms around her and lifts her up in a big hug and she hugs him back with a chuckle. That's been a ritual of his and hers on her birthday for as long as I can remember.

"Happy birthday Clary!" He says still hugging her. He kisses her cheek. "I've got something for you."

"For me?" She says in mock astonishment. "You know you shouldn't have."

"I know but I wanted to." He says as he sits her feet back down on the floor. "I have a right to get you whatever I want and you can't complain since it's your birthday."

"Well if that isn't just a lame defense." She says with a laugh. She sighs and then pinches his left cheek. "But, I guess I can let it slide since your so cute."

"Awh." Izzy says teasingly with a chuckle. "You two are adorable."

"Now who's jealous." I say mockingly with a laugh.

"Oh shut up." Izzy says playfully as she hits my right thigh with her hand.

I look over at her and squint my eyes playfully.

"Maybe we should leave these two alone, Alec." Clary says jokingly with a laugh.

"I think you may be right." He teases with a chuckle.

"Bye then." I say as I look over at them with a smile.

"Come on." Clary says with a smile as she grabs Alec's hand. "I'm gonna turn you straight."

"You're the only woman that could." Alec says with a smirk.

The two turn, take two steps towards the door, and stop. They look back at us with raised eyebrows and smiles.

"Hardy har har, smartasses." I say with my eyebrows raised.

Clary sticks out her tongue. "Takes one to know one."

"I say go for it!" Izzy says excitedly as she continues the friendly bickering.

"You would." Alec says simply with a smile as he looks at her. He looks back at Clary as he reaches in his pocket pulling out his wallet, grabs something out of it and hands it to her. "This is for you."

She takes it, looks at it, and starts grinning. "You really shouldn't have, but thank you!"

She stretches her right arm out showing it to us with a smile. It's a gift card to ' _Bath & Body Works'_ with the amount of one hundred dollars on it.

"He's trying to tell you that you stink, _badly_." Izzy says teasingly.

I laugh. "Hey, that's what I was going to say."

"Very funny you two." Alec says through a breath. "But I know how much she likes her cucumber melon and hates the smell of the knock offs, so now she can stock pile it."

"I think it was sweet and I love it!" Clary says assuredly with a sweet tone to her voice as she turns back around to face him. She hugs him again. "Thank you! I really do love it!"

"You're welc-" Alec begins.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE SISTER!" Jon shouts as he burst through the door, interrupting Alec.

"Thanks Jonny!" Clary says with a laugh as she pulls back away from Alec. She puts her left index finger in her ear and shakes it quickly, as if trying to make ringing in it stop. "But did you really have to be so loud?"

"What? YOU MEAN LIKE THIS?" Jon shouts sarcastically with a grin.

"You're such an ass." She says teasingly as she shakes her head slightly.

He runs at her with a mischievous grin and knocks her backwards, tackling her onto the bed between me and Izzy.

 _Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you._

Jon sings with a laugh on top of her as she tries to cover his mouth with her hands while laughing. While we all start laughing at the two.

 _Happy birthday Dear Little Sisterrrr, Happy birthday to youuuuu-_

"You're horrible." Clary says in laughter as she finally manages to cover his mouth with her right hand, cutting him off of his drug out you. "And must you always sing?"

"But you love me regardless." He says muffled as he nods yes. He shakes his head wildly freeing his mouth from her hand. "I got a surprise for the best sister in the whole entire universe."

"Way to overdo it with _all_ the dramatics." She teases with a laugh. "But I can't have it."

"Why not?" He asks incredulously yet curious.

"Cause your squishing me." She says dramatically acting as if she can't breath.

"Oh yeah I forgot." He says with a laugh.

He gets up and reaches his right hand out. She takes it with her right hand and he pulls her up into a sitting position.

"Okay here!" He says excitedly as he pulls a piece of paper out of his back pocket and hands it to her.

I watch as her eyes light up with joy and excitement as she reads over it.

"Oh Jonny, it's great!" She says as she hugs him and he hugs her back. "Thank you!"

"That's not all." He says mischievously with a knowing smile.

He reaches under his shirt and pulls out a small box that's wrapped up nicely. On it is a card, the envelope reads...

 _To My Favorite Little Sister, even in my imagination. From Your Loving Big Brother._

She opens the envelope and pulls out the card.

 _Dear Clarissa,_

 _You have always been my partner in crime, but you're going to have to do this getting older thing all by yourself. There's a lot of stories I could tell, so have a great birthday Little Sister, or else!_

She laughs as she reads it out loud.

 _For your birthday, I wanted to make you smile the way you always help me smile. So I hope you enjoy!_

 _XOXOXO,_

 _Jonathan_

When she finishes reading, she looks up at him with a smile and from where I sit it looks like happy tears have built up in her eyes.

"Open it already." He says eagerly.

She looks back down and starts shredding the paper, underneath it is a black box. She opens it and gasps. What's revealed is a 9 mm pistol with mother of pearl grips that has skulls coming through the thorny vines of roses, all of which are engraved in black, and a black barrel. There's also a brick of ammo to go along with it.

"When did you get this?" She asks in awe as she runs her finger over the gun adoringly.

"When I went and picked up the contract for the annual membership at the gun range." He says proudly. "Do you like it?"

"Are you kidding me, I love it!" She says ecstatically. She carefully lays it down beside her, leaps up off the bed, and hugs him as he hugs her back. "It's perfect! Thank you Jonny"

It still amazes me at how excited she gets over firearms, or any weapons for that matter. It really shouldn't though. Me, her and Jon use to go target practicing at the range with our fathers when we were younger, and then as we got older we started going to the swamp without our fathers; where she got us started on blowing things up. She's always had a thing for making things go boom, whether it was fireworks, a full soda, a beer bottle, or just something we picked up at a junk yard or even found on the side of the road; sometimes it was even something somebody's parents didn't want anymore and were going to trash, so we'd load it up and take out there to blow up. _I should've thought of this._ I tell myself. However, I did get her something she said she wanted and she does need it, but she wasn't in a hurry to get it for herself so I took it upon myself to get it for her. So I'm positive that she's going to love it, but I just hope that she has the same reaction as she did with theirs. I sure hope that she does, I'd like that...

 _More than anything._

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed today's chapter!**

 **As always let me know what you thought with a review! I know a few of you will! ;)**

 **Until next update! MWAH!**


	14. Getting Started

**Clary**

"Hi momma Celine." I say as I walk in the front door of her house, finding her sitting on the couch watching the television.

I think I may have _finally_ learned my lesson after the last time and I don't want to get in trouble again., especially not today when it's been great so far.

She looks over at me with a smile. "There's my girl! Happy birthday baby!"

"Are we still on for today?" I ask as I sit down beside her.

"Yes, it looks like the weather is just going to be nasty." She says as she points to the television. "So I think it's safe to go."

"Well let's get going then." I say happily with a smile on my face. I really love spending time with her. It feels just like spending time with my own mom. "Your car or mine?"

"Since it's your birthday I'll do the driving so you can relax and enjoy your day." She says as she grabs her keys off the coffee table while standing up.

"Sounds like a plan to me." I say sweetly with a smile as I reach for the remote. I turn the television off and stand up to follow her as she starts walking to the garage door.

As we drove down the road she decided we were going to the big mall to go shopping because there was something she seen that, and despite my protests, she believed I needed. After we arrived and walked inside, arm and arm, I spotted something I just had to have in a window. So of course we went in and I got it, along with a bunch of other things that neither of us really needed but wanted just the same. We laughed and cut up along the way as we did that through a couple of other stores before we grabbed a late lunch in the food court. Then it was right back to shopping.

"I think he'll like it." I say with a laugh to Celine.

She laughing while holding up a blue t-shirt to her chest with 'Broncos are MY Team' written on it in orange with the Denver Broncos emblem encircled by the writing.

"He'd have both our heads if we did that to him." She says in laughter as she hangs the shirt back up. She starts searching the rack again.

 _It would be a terrific gag gift for him._ I tell myself. That's when an orange tank top catches the corner of my eye on the rack to my left, so I pull it out to get a better look. Across the top written in white and aqua is 'DAMN RIGHT' and underneath is a white skull with crossbones and wings, the Miami Dolphins emblem is across the top of it's head which is shaped like a football, then beneath it, stacked in three rows, is 'I AM A - DOLPHINS FAN - WIN OR LOSE' also written in aqua and white.

"What do you think?" I ask holding the shirt up under my chin. "Would I make it look good?"

"YES!" She says excitedly with a smile. She takes the shirt from me. "You have to have it, my treat of course."

What can I say, we're all a bunch of Miami Dolphin fans through and through. Except Maia who is a Broncos fan, and Magnus who's a 49ers fan. Blah! The ponies and the stinkers. I snicker to myself at the thought of them giving me hell if they had heard me say that.

"If you keep treating me like this, I'm going to have to throw out my wardrobe _and_ you're going to end up spoiling me." I say jokingly with a smile as I reach for it to put it with the others we've already picked out to buy.

"Oh no you won't, if you need more room you can always keep some at my house." She says sternly in her motherly tone while raising an eyebrow. "And, I don't mind spoiling you."

"Well maybe we should get out of the mall before you break the bank then." I say teasingly, but truthfully I'm being serious.

"Nope, we have one more shop to hit." She says proudly with a grin. "Because there's still one more thing I have to get."

Damn! I hoped that she had forgotten. I know she said she wanted to take me shopping for my birthday but honestly, I didn't plan on letting her spend this much money on me. I mean, she's already spent so much and now she wants to go spend more on something that I already have plenty of, in my opinion. But if I tell her that I risk hurting her feelings since she had her heart set on getting it for me, that was the whole reason we came to this mall in the first place, and I already used the excuse of it being to pricey. Besides that, I know better then to argue with her she's just as stubborn as me and her son, especially once she's set her mind to something. _Well_ , I jokingly think to myself...

 _It looks like she wins again._

* * *

 **Isabelle**

"I can't believe you jackasses didn't tell me about this." I say a little in disbelief and a little shocked. I put my hands on my hips. "I could've helped."

"You did help, you kept her busy." Jace says reassuringly as he starts to fill a balloon with helium. "Besides we wanted to tell you but you would've ran your mouth."

"No I wouldn't have." I argue a little hurt by the assumption.

"Oh yes you would've. Clary has always had a way with getting you to spill secrets whether or not you mean to." Alec says with certainty as he twist neon blue and lime green streamers together, which are two of her favorite colors.

"She does with all of us, so don't act like I'm the only one." I state in my defense as I help Jon cover the dining room table with a lime green table cloth.

"I'm not gonna deny it." Jace says nonchalantly as he ties a balloon. "She has that affect on all of us."

"That's true." Alec says agreeingly while still twisting streamers together.

"Not me!" Jon says with a chuckle as he pins his last corner down of the tablecloth.

"BULLSHIT!" The three of us shout simultaneously at Jon.

"It is not." He says defensively. He grabs a bag from the chair to his right. "Y'all just don't know how to handle her."

I scoff. "Handle Clarissa Morgenstern, now that's funny."

"Yeah, I'd like to see this for myself." Alec says with a sarcastic laugh.

"I say we make Jonny boy here prove it." Jace says immediately with a derisive tone.

"I agree." I say as Alec says, "Me too."

"Alright, now you guys are just taking it to far." Jon says seriously, sounding a little scared while standing frozen, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"That's because you know we're right." I say with certainty and a smile as I start to walk around the table.

"Okay, so you guys called my bluff." He says with a sigh.

"I knew it!" Jace says proudly, and I can see out the corner of my eye that he's filling another balloon.

"But I _would_ like to see the person that thinks they can." He says with amusement.

We all start laughing, the thought of that is hilarious to me and probably them as well, since we all know Clary _and_ how she is.

"I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that one." Jace says knowingly while calming his laugher slightly.

"Wouldn't we all." Alec says in laughter.

"Oh definitely." I say laughing as I agree with the guys. I take a deep breath to stop my laughter and clap my hands together twice. "Okay, now back to work."

We all get back to the tasks at hand, decorating and getting everything set up and ready for Clary's surprise party. She's been gone with Celine for a few hours now and I can't help but worrying that they're going to show up before we're done. And that's definitely not what we need. It wouldn't be much of a surprise if we got busted and everybody isn't even here yet. Oh please, don't let them show up before we are able to...

 _Get everything ready._

* * *

 **Jace**

I stand at the window peeking through the curtains watching and waiting for Clary and my mom to get back from their day of shopping and fun. I love that the two of them have always gotten along the way they do but right now I'm a little worried with the fact that they're twenty minutes late. Since it's still storming, I have no idea where they are and I can't just call or text to ask cause it might raise suspicion.

I had it planned with my mom for this to start at 5:30 so that Clary wouldn't suspect anything, and everybody still had plenty of time to get here. Well everybody's here and have been since about 5 o'clock, and yet the birthday girl still hasn't made her debut.

"Where are they?" I ask quietly to no one in particular.

"They probably just got caught in traffic." Bat says reassuringly from behind me.

"Or they stopped by y'alls house to drop off Clary's stuff." Maia says calmly.

I glance around the room at everybody, and realize all eyes are on me.

"They could be out pulling a prank on somebody." Todd says sarcastically with his eyebrows raised.

I chuckle as I peek back out the window. "You were warned ahead of time."

"I know." Todd says with a sigh.

"But you have to admit that was good." Magnus says with laugh.

Izzy laughs. "Oh yeah it was!"

"Ha. Ha." Todd says dramatically.

"Oh come on, that was _epic_!" Jon says excitedly.

"What are you guys talking about?" Bat asks suspiciously.

"I'm not sure we want to know." Maia says skeptically.

"That's right you two haven't got to watch the video yet." I say simply, still staring through the small crack between the curtains.

"There's a video?" Todd asks incredulously.

"Yeah." I say with a short laugh as I squint my eyes to see if the vehicle coming our way is my mom's car.

"Clary named it 'The Todd Prank Video.' Izzy informs him.

"Okay now I have _got_ to know." Bat says intriguingly. He knows Clary's pranks are awesome, she's pulled a few on him back in high school.

Damn it! Right color but that's a white truck not a car. What is taking them so long? Did something happen? Are they alright?

"Well," Jon says interrupting my panicking thoughts.

He begins telling the others about the prank and I continue to look out the window, watching for the two most important women in my life. While they're all laughing at the story and I'm steadily worrying about them.

"You're definitely gonna have to watch it." Jon says with certainty after he's finished.

I see a white car turning the corner a couple of blocks down, and as it get closer I start to think that it's in fact my mom's car.

"Yeah, I definitely wa-" Bat begins.

"EVERYBODY HIDE!" I shout excitedly, interrupting him, as I run for the light switch. "THEIR COMING!"

Everybody starts running around finding spots to hide, and once they're all hidden I turn off the light. I carefully make my way through the dark to hide behind the couch with a smile on my face. I wait impatiently yet excitedly for them to walk though the door and as I do I'm mentally rushing them. And I think, come on...

 _Let's get this started!_

* * *

 **Hope you have enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Now you know about Clary's 'hot' date, as Izzy put it haha. Hmm, I wonder how Clary is going to react. Lol.**

 **Let me know what you thought with a review! I love reading them!**

 **Until next time! MWAH! To you wonderful readers!**


	15. Surprise (Part 1)

**Isabelle**

"SURPRISE!" Everyone shouts as the light comes on and Clary walks through the front door in a new, gorgeous, party dress.

The dress is form fitting and short like a mini, and even from here I can see that it is black lace covering a red silk making it look blood red. It's also sleeveless with the black lace coming up from the chest and around the neck. It makes me wonder where she got it because now I want one.

Celine walks in smiling, right behind her and waves.

Clary scoffs. " If this isn't just the lamest prank in history, now let's go."

"It's not a prank." Mangus says with a laugh.

"Well I don't need an intervention, so it has to be." Clary says sarcastically with eyebrows raised.

I roll my eyes dramatically. "It's a party for you."

"Oh no it's not." Clary says with a hint of anger in her tone as she puts her hands on her hips. "I distinctly remember saying I didn't want one."

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." I whisper to Jace, who stands only a foot or two in front of me.

"Don't be mad at them, it was all my idea." Jace confesses as he steps around the couch and begins making his way towards Clary.

Clary raises an eyebrow and looks slightly amused with her hands still on her hips. "Oh, I know."

"Know what?" Jace asks confusedly with his eyebrows furrowed together as he comes to a stop just to her right.

"I knew about this." Clary says as she spreads her hands, starting in front of her and going outwards, indicating the party. She chuckles. "Your not very sneaky, you know."

Jace looks over at Jon, who's to my left. "You snitched?"

"It wasn't me." Jon says as he shakes his head no.

I follow Jace's gaze as he turns to look at Alec, who is standing next to the staircase.

"So it was you?" Jace asks incredulously.

"I didn't tell her anything." Alec says with his hands up defensively.

"Who told then?" Jace asks curiously.

"You did." Clary says confidentially with amusement in her tone.

I turn to look back at Jace and as I do I can see everyone else turning to look towards him too.

Jace shakes his no and has his hands up defensively. "I'm not the one who told."

Clary laughs. "Aww. Yes you did, you just didn't know it." She says mysteriously with a smirk.

"Huh?" Jace asks dumbfound with his eyebrows furrowed together.

"Let's see where do I start?" Clary asks as she crosses her left arm over her chest, resting her right elbow on it as she places her chin on her right hand and tapping her cheek with her index finger. "Izzy wanted me to workout with her two days before my birthday, which meant somebody put her up to distracting me. There's also the fact that you forgot to empty your pockets and I found a receipt for some party supplies, dated for the same day, when I was doing laundry. So I went to snooping."

"Well that's not telling, that could've been for anything." Jace says nonchalantly as he crosses his arms over her chest.

"You talk in your sleep occasionally and when I ask you questions you answer them." She says with a mischievous grin.

"Well, that's just cheating." Jace says exasperatedly as he throws his arms up in defeat.

"That's all kinds of wrong." Todd mutters.

"So are we having this party or not?" Bat says dramatically.

"I did prepare you favorite Italian dishes." Celine says assuredly as she puts her right arm around Clary's waist. She looks at Jace and squints her eyes. "You did remember to put them in the oven, didn't you?"

"Yes." He says with a sigh. "And I set the timer, but they're probably cold by now."

"They were covered with foil so I doubt that." Celine says with certainty and a smile, her arm still around Clary.

"Well then let's eat!" Clary says decisively. She gives Jace a kiss on the cheek and smiles. "It smells good and I'm hungry."

"To the dining room then." Jace says with a smile as he looks at her face.

She nods and loops her right arm through his left arm, smiling the whole time.

The three of them start to make their way towards the dining room; Clary and Jace arm in arm, and Celine with her arm still around Clary. They look so cute and it just proves they belong together. We all start to fall in behind them as they pass us. As I follow them, I can't help but smile. Well, we weren't able to surprise her and she ended up surprising us but...

 _At least she's happy._

* * *

 **Alec**

When we came into the dining room Celine insisted that Clary sit at the head of the table and leave everything up to her. Clary protested at first, of course, but after Celine gave her a look - that reminded me of my mom's 'Don't you sass me.' - she gave in. Since she didn't say the rest of us couldn't help we all pitched in, some of us carried food, and others drinks - a pitcher of sweet tea, and a couple of two liters of soda - as Jace prepared the salad; none of that 'prepackaged bullshit' as he called it. Beside the salad, there was manicotti, baked ziti, and rolls; all of which Celine had made from scratch.

Now that we are finished with the delicious meal that was made especially for Clary and eating birthday cake, we're all still gathered around the table making small talk.

Jace stands up abruptly and clears his throat.

"Since everybody is together _finally,_ we have something that we wanted to share." He says looking down at Clary and grabbing her right hand, then looking back across the table at the rest of us.

"I knew it!" Celine says excitedly.

"It's not that." Clary says assuringly with a chuckle as she shakes her head slightly.

Jace looks down in confusion with his eyebrows furrowed together at the two, who are looking at each other in what seems to be a secret conversation. He shrugs slightly then shakes his head, as if he's trying to clear it.

"Anyway, Clary and I have finally set the date for our wedding." Jace says happily with a smile.

Clary stands up still holding Jace's hand with a smile. "So everybody clear your calendars for November twenty-seventh of this year."

"This is great news!" Celine says as Izzy shouts, "YAY!"

"It's about time!" Jon hollers, as the rest of us cheer.

This really is a great surprise, I hadn't expected them to set a date anytime soon.

"Well congratulations you two!" Magnus says sweetly. "Does this mean me and Izzy get to design the attire for this glorious occasion?"

"We'll see." Jace says with a chuckle.

"We were thinking-" Clary begins.

"Me and Magnus are engaged." I blurt out in a rush.

With all the excitement going on and keeping it a secret the past couple of days, I just couldn't take it anymore. Besides we were planning to tell Clary and the others tonight anyhow. After all, it was to be...

 _Her surprise._

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Let me know with a review what you thought, and what you think is going to happen next. Also did you catch what Celine got Clary for her birthday?**

 **Until next time. MWAH!**


	16. Surprise (Part 2)

**Jace**

After Alec's big announcement the room went up in gasps at the initial shock and cheers shortly after from everybody, except for Clary. As soon as she heard the news, she immediately ran around me and the table so fast, that she crashed into them as she hugged their necks. She told them how happy she was for them, how it was ' _about damn time_ ,' and that it was a _great_ birthday present. Then she wanted to know how long they had been keeping the secret, and why they hadn't said something sooner. Once everyone else gave them their congrats the gift giving began, again.

Todd gave Clary a trophy he had made for her, it was inscribed as '#1 Prankster - Clarissa Morgenstern' which she took a bow for with a laugh. He also promised to never try pulling another prank on her for the rest of his natural born life.

Bat and Maia gave her a card with a picture of the new tires they got for her car. Bat said he didn't want to worry about them getting stolen or destroyed before they were put on the car so they left them in our garage for her. And Maia teased her that she'd need them with the way she burns the pavement up.

Magnus gave her a gold ankle bracelet with a small heart charm that's inscribed with his nickname for her, Biscuit. She put it on her ankle and admired how it looked on her. That was when Magnus teased her that it was stolen and she shot back with it was probably going to turn her green or rot her foot off.

Now it's my turn and honestly, I'm a little nervous.

"This is just one part." I say as I slide her the gift bag out from under the coffee table.

She looks at me suspiciously with one eye squinted. "Exactly how many parts are there?"

"Just two." I say with a half smile.

She pulls a sheet of the paper out, and reaches for a second.

"Maybe." I say mischievously.

"Alright smartass." She mumbles under her breath for only me to hear.

She gets through all the paper and pulls one of the boxes out. She holds it up getting a good look at it.

"THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME!" She shouts excitedly with a grin. Her grin fades and she stomps her foot. "Man, it's storming."

I laugh. "As soon as it's over we can have a _huge_ water balloon fight."

"You promise?" She asks sweetly with a small smile.

"I swear." I say with a smile as I put my right hand over my heart.

"Where did you find giant water balloons anyway?" She asks curiously with her eyes full of excitement.

"At the 'Party Palace.' You should've known since you found the receipt." I tease.

She tilts her head slightly to the left. "It just said balloons, plates, and tablecloth."

"Yeah the streamers were fun to find." Jon mutters sarcastically.

"Well I love it, all of it." She says assuringly with a sweet smile as she looks around the living room at everyone. She looks back at me. "Thank you."

I grin. "You're welcome."

She starts digging in the bag and pulls out five more boxes of giant water balloons; I got all I could find which was two boxes of each size - five foot, six foot, and seven foot.

"This is going to be freaking awesome." She says smiling as she lays the last box down. She leans forward, wraps her arms around my neck, and gives me a small kiss. "Thank you. I love it!"

"There's one more thing." I say as I stand up from sitting on the coffee table.

"I thought this was it." She says in disbelief while raising an eyebrow.

"No." I say shaking my head. "There's more."

I walk to the coat closet and grab the good sized box that I hid there yesterday off the top shelf. I turn back around with it in my hands and she's looking at me with both eyebrows raised in suspicion. I walk back over to her and sit back down on the coffee table in front of her. _I guess this is the moment of truth_. I tell myself. I take a deep breath and hand her the box.

She looks at the box curiously as she examines it. Then begins to tear the wrapping paper off, only to find a brown box. She opens the brown box and gasps.

"It's wonderful." She says softly in wonderment as she pulls it out and her eyes start sparkling. "It's the exact same one that I told you a month ago I wanted."

"Yeah, and I had all the extra programs added that you'll need for any web designing business and everything else, including your classes." I explain as I watch her lifting the top, her eyes and hands running over it as she admires it.

"Oh, but I'm not going back to school." She says without any expression at all, still admiring the laptop.

"DO WHAT?!" Everyone else including myself, as I stand, yell incredulously, in unison.

Clary looks up, looking like a deer caught in headlights, her eyes as wide as silver dollars.

"I thought you said you weren't dropping out of school." My mom says sounding shocked.

"I'm not." Clary says assuredly as she looks to her right at my mom. She shakes her head. "I didn't mean for that to come out, especially not like that."

"Well then what _did_ you mean?" I ask with a slight bit of anger creeping into my tone.

"That's what I want to know too." Jon says angrily.

"Geez, I'm still going to finish school." She says defensively as she closes the lid of the laptop while sitting back against the couch. "I'm just going to be doing my classes online instead of on campus."

"Why?" Izzy asks curiously, and I catch a glimpse of her putting hands on her hips out of the corner of my eye.

Good question! I mentally thank her for asking it. I mean I remember having this conversation with her but that was over a month and a half ago, and I'm curious as to why the sudden change of plans.

"Well for starters, I can work at my own pace instead of getting up with an alarm every morning and having to follow somebody else's schedule. But the part that _really_ won me over, is that I'll be able to get my bachelor's degree faster than I would if I was going to classes." She explains simply with her hands folded on top of the laptop.

"If that's the case then I'm game." I say assuringly with a smile.

She smiles up at me and mouths thank you.

I'm all for it if she's going to be able to get her degree faster, and her not having to follow somebody else's schedule means we'll be able to spend more time together; when we get the chance. I know it sounds selfish but I'm definitely down for spending as much time with her as I can get, especially if it's alone time. I know this is suppose to be her surprise party but I'm the one that got...

 _One hell of a great surprise!_

* * *

 **Clary**

 _I can't believe I let Celine buy me this dress, let alone talk me into wearing it out the store_. I think to myself as I shift on the couch, pulling it down at the hem. I've never been much for dresses. I mean, I wear them occasionally but it's definitely not my go to choice in fashion. I prefer my tank tops, t-shirts, shorts, and jeans, with a pair of flip flops. I'm -

"Isabelle Sophia Lightwood." Jon says firmly, snapping me out of my reverie. We only use full names when it's something serious, or of importance. "I know we haven't been together all that long but I have always loved you." Jon says holding Izzy's hands in his as he looks into her eyes. He uses his right hand to pull his necklace out of his shirt then over his head and hands it to her. He drops down on one knee. "I've had that ring for over a week now, contemplating when the right time to do this was, and it seems like there's no better time than now. Will you marry me?"

Izzy's eyes go wide and her mouth drops from the shock.

My eyes go wide as well. I knew he was going to propose to her, I just didn't think he'd be doing it here in front of all of us. Then again he's always had some brass balls. Figuratively of course, at least as far as I know. _Yuck!_ I tell myself. I don't even want to know. I shake the disturbing thought from my head.

Say yes, say yes, say yes! I scream at her inside my head. Please Izzy just say yes!

"Oh, just say yes already!" Alec yells enthusiastically. Thank you Alec!

Izzy looks in her hand at the necklace and holds it up. There's the ' _Center of My Universe Halo Ring made by Forevermark'_ that I helped Jon pick out for her. It has little diamonds three-quarters of the way around the gold band, and a circle of little diamonds surrounding the center diamond that stands up, slightly, off the ring.

"You're sure about this?" Izzy asks curiously looking down at Jon. "I mean you're not going to wake up tomorrow and think 'what the hell have I done' are you?"

I chuckle as I shake my head slightly at her.

Jon laughs as he stands up. "Of course I'm not. I have wanted to be with you for years and that's not going to change, especially not overnight."

"Welllll." She pauses. She bites her bottom lip. "YES!"

"Yes?" Jon asks as if he either can't believe she just agreed, or he's double checking he heard her right.

"Yes, of course I'll marry you." She says with a grin.

"YES!" I yell as I jump up from the couch smiling as everybody else is whooping and hollering. I feel arms wrap around my waist from behind me and I know exactly who's they are which causes me to smile even more than I already am as I close my eyes, enjoying every bit of everything going on around me.

"Looks like there's three weddings to plan now." Jace says as he places a kiss on my neck.

"Uh huh." I say turning around in his arms and opening my eyes. I put my arms around his neck and place a small kiss on his lips. "This has turned out to be the best party ever. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He says with a smile. He kisses my lips, quickly. "I'm glad you liked it."

"Are you kidding? I loved it!" I say enthusiastically with a grin as I slide my arms down and rest my hands on the back of his shoulders. I lay my head against his chest.

"Nothing but the best for you." Jace says sweetly and kisses the top of my head.

"I love you!" I say smiling against him.

"I love you too!" He says as he rest his cheek against my head and I can feel him smile when he does.

Standing here in Jace arms, surrounded by people I care about and care about me, I feel as if I may have died and gone to heaven. It's been awhile since we've all been able to be together with life getting so hectic.

I sigh inwardly. Today has _definitely_ been one crazy day, that's for sure. It's been one surprise after the next and not just for me it seems, but for everybody apparently. Thankfully though, this night is nearly over because I don't know what I'll do if things keep going like this and I honestly, don't think that...

 _I could handle anymore surprises._

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed today's chapter!**

 **Let me know what you think in the reviews.**

 **Until next time! MWAH!**

* * *

 **KB and** **reppinda5o3: Did the dress part work? I was worried it wouldn't sound alright since I had already had the chapter wrote and had to go back to change some stuff to add it in.**

 **Guest: I'm glad you loved it! That's why I had Alec do it, everybody expects Magnus to be the one to blurt it out. Haha. Thanks for the review! I loved reading it!**


	17. WHAT!

**Clary**

It's a beautiful day out, the sun is shining and there's no sign of the storm anymore. I'm leaned back on my blanket with my legs stretched out in front of me talking to Izzy and Todd, as the three of us sit here in my back yard; they're both sitting in front of me. He's to my right with his legs crossed indian style and she's to my left with her right leg stretched out in front of her and her left leg bent at the knee as she's leaned back slightly, using her hands to hold her up.

"So you're leaving and never coming back?" I ask incredulously with my eyebrows raised. Surely he's just trying to pull a fast one on us.

"Yeah, I leave tomorrow." Todd says with a sad smile.

"You can't just leave, you just got back." Izzy says with a slight bit of anger to her tone. She takes a deep audible breath. "Besides school starts tomorrow."

"I know but it's getting to dangerous around here." He says assuredly as he drags his hands down his face.

"If this is about the prank I pulled on you then-" I begin.

"It's not that." He says interrupting me before I can apologize. I don't want to be the cause of him leaving forever. "There's other factors to the reason."

"Well I don't understand." Izzy says dramatically in a huff. "So how about you explain it to me."

"What's going on?" I hear Jace asks from a distance behind me.

I look over my shoulder and see him standing at the sliding door. He has his right hand against the inside of the glass door and is holding something in his left arm but I can't make out what.

"Todd's talking about going back home and never coming back, not even for visits." I inform him.

Jace starts to step through the door and I catch a glimpse of a dark cloud above the house.

"Why?" Jace asks curiously. I'm not sure if he's asking me or Todd the question.

"It's just that-" Todd begins.

I quickly sit straight up gasping, I feel like I can't breath, as I look to my left. I'm in bed not in the backyard and Jace is beside me, he didn't just get sucked up into the air. It's still raining outside too, I can hear it.

I look over at the clock on the nightstand, it's 3:37 in the morning, and I groan.

"Not again." I mutter very quietly in annoyance at being woken up this early and by a stupid nightmare nonetheless.

I lay back down and pull Jace's left arm around me as I snuggle up close to him and put my head on his chest.

He rolls over onto his right side with a moan as he wraps his other arm around me and pulls me closer as he squeezes me tightly. If I didn't know better, I'd say he knew I had a horrible dream and is trying to comfort me; but he always holds me like this, especially at night when we're in bed.

I'm trying to fall back to sleep but I can't. I keep wondering what the hell was that dream all about, and every time I close my eyes I can see it all over again. I'm not to worried about the Todd part of it. I'm sure he isn't really planning on leaving, he would've said something last night. Plus, he wouldn't have come back just to turn right back around and go home. I am, however, worried about the parts involving Jace though. What in the hell sucked him up into the air? It was nice out besides that one dark cloud. And what in the world was Jace holding? I didn't get a good look before he disappeared into the sky with it.

The only explanation I can think of is.. maybe it was something that I ate. That has to be it. Right? I mean I've been having weird dreams lately but none of them have consisted of Jace getting sucked away.

"Why aren't you sleeping?" Jace asks hoarsely. He kisses the top of my head. "It's to early to be awake."

"I know." I say with a sigh. I kiss his bare chest. "I'm trying, but I had a really fucked up dream."

"Well it was just a dream, so sleep." He says sweetly as he squeezes just a little tighter. "I've got you and I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

"It's not me that I'm worried about." I mumble under my breath.

"What was that?" Jace asks with a yawn.

"Nothing," I say with a yawn. I swear those damn things are contagious. "Go back to sleep."

He kisses the top of my head again. "Try to get you some sleep too."

"I will." I say assuredly as I scoot as close as I can to him. "I love you."

"I love you too." He replies groggily.

Within seconds he's asleep again and I'm attempting to get back to sleep once again. The light sound of him breathing and the beating of his heart is like a lullaby, and before I know it I'm drifting back off into the darkness. One final thought crosses my mind before I completely succumb to it. Did my dream mean something and if so...

 _What?!_

* * *

 **Alec**

After I woke up around 10 o'clock this morning and got ready for the day, I kissed Magnus goodbye since he had to get some last minute things done before his classes start tomorrow. Then I went across the street to Jon and them's so we could get started with our search again. It was still raining out but we still have things that needs to be done.

When I got there the girls were both still in bed, asleep from what I was told, and Jon was making himself a cup of coffee as Jace was eating a bowl of Fruity Pebbles. I helped myself to some coffee and the three of us joked around about last night while drinking our coffee. Then we started discussing locations and the idea that Jon had the day before yesterday, the same day I played hookie.

"I know we're pretty much screwed without having a building right now, but there's still equipment we don't have either." I say nonchalantly with my arms folded on top of the island while I lean against it.

"We've gotten a diagnostics machine and it works great, I tried it on Clary's car." Jon says contently while leaned against the counter between the stove and the refrigerator.

"We really need to make a list of what we've got, then we'll know exactly what we still need to get." Jace says insistently while sitting on the island counter.

"Well we know that Jon has all the welding equipment needed." I say with certainty.

"What do we need for the paint and body area?" Jon asks as he digs through the drawer by the refrigerator. He turns around with a pad of paper and a pen in his hands. "We'll start making a list."

"Maybe it'll be easier to make two list." I suggest with raised eyebrows.

"Okay lets start with things we have then." Jon says as he leans against the island, putting the pen to the paper.

"Alright, we have an Eastwood Apollo TurboPro 3000 Paint System and three TrueHVLP PBC-GTO Gravity spray guns -base, clear and primer." I say proudly. It's some of the things we got at the estate auction we went to.

"We've got two thirty-seven foot air hoses, and the additional accessories." Jace says assuredly as he hops down off the counter top.

"And a large _and_ medium respirator, paint mixer, and paint chart." Jon adds as he writes.

"As well as that Eastwood quarter inch digital regulator, I bought off my boss the other day." I say proudly. I sigh. "I think that's all we've got for my area of expertise."

"I believe we've got everything for mine and Jon's areas, unless we get a place that needs lifts put in." Jace says with conviction. "But we'll probably need to check the shed to make sure."

"Well I'm not going out there to do that in this mess." Jon says firmly with his eyebrows raised.

"We can do that after it clears up out there." I say reassuringly with a chuckle.

"Okay, now for the things that's still needed." Jon says as he looks up at me expectantly.

"For starters, a heavy duty seven hundred and fifty pound work stand." I pause trying to think of what else. I point at him with my right index finger. "Also urethane paint reducer and large disposable gloves."

"You'll need paints too, but it would probably be best to get that as we go at first; at least until things pick up." Jace adds in helpfully.

"Yeah, that way we're not spending money on a color nobody wants and it doesn't go to waste." I say gratefully. "There's also some other items but nothing big and they're easy to find."

"Is that it then?" Jon asks curiously with his eyebrows furrowed together.

Jace sighs. "I guess so, at least until we do inventory."

If this is truly all we need, well besides the building, then we're doing better than I thought we were. Now we just need to find a place, however, Jon was right; there's no sense in wasting money and time driving around looking. I guess it's time to check online, again, and maybe even with real estate agents. I know it's not what we wanted but at this point I don't see any other option. Oh...

 _What to do?_

* * *

 **Isabelle**

I wake up to the sound of my stomach growling and Jon isn't in the bed. Since the windows are boarded up it's to dark to tell what time it is so I roll over and look at the clock; 12:33 p.m.

I jump out of the bed and get so dizzy that I fall back down on it. _Fucking dumbass._ I curse myself. I should've known better than to get up so quick.

I stand up slowly this time and make my way to the bathroom, tripping over some article of clothing as I do; but I manage to keep myself from falling. I flip on the light switch and look back into the room. I damn near broke my neck on my own pants, figures.

I enter the bathroom and begin to brush my teeth when I notice the engagement ring on my left hand. As I continue to brush my teeth I can't help but smiling at the thought that I'm engaged now, and not to just anybody. I'm engaged to Jonathan Morgenstern! The boy that I grew up with my entire life, that has always lived right across the street, the one that I had a crush on for the longest time when we were kids, the same boy that as we got older I pushed my feelings away for and all because I didn't think he'd ever be interested in me, and he's also my best friend's brother.

I go back into the room when I'm done, grab a pair of blue jean shorts out the dresser and slide them on. I take Jon's black t-shirt off as I make my way to the closet to grab one of my own. I pull on a purple tank top with the word 'Hottie' written across it in silver sequins as I make my way back to the bathroom to brush my hair, where I decide to just pull it back into a simple ponytail.

Once I have finished my morning routine, or in this case afternoon, I make my way down the stairs to the kitchen to find myself something to eat. I open a bag of chips to eat on while I make myself a cajun-styled roast beef sandwich, it's mine and Clary's favorite kind of lunch meat.

As I stand here eating my sandwich and chips I start wondering why nobody woke me up. I mean Jon usually lets me sleep in but Clary doesn't, I do the same thing to her though. Maybe since I have school tomorrow and she doesn't, she decided to let-

"Welcome to the land of the living." I hear Jace tease.

I look up and he's walking towards me.

"I thought I heard someone in here." He says with a smile as he walks around me.

"Where's everybody at?" I ask curiously with a mouthful of sandwich.

"Living room." He says simply, and I hear the refrigerator door open.

"Who is it?" Jon hollers.

"Izzy!" Jace calls back to him as he walks back around me with a cup of sweet tea in his hand.

I swallow my food with my eyebrows furrowed together. "Clary's still asleep?"

"Yeah, she didn't sleep to good last night." He takes a drink. "Bad dream."

"Oh." I say simply and put another chip in my mouth. "But she's okay, right?"

"She's still breathing if that's what you mean." Jace says jokingly.

I roll my eyes. "I mean she's not hurt or anything."

"No, why would she be?" He asks confusedly with his eyebrows furrowed together.

"Just a dream I guess." I say with a sigh.

He shakes his head slightly with a strange look on his face. "Well, I was fixing to go check in on her again but you can if you want."

I put my right index finger up, indicating for him to wait. "As soon as I'm finished with my sandwich."

"Okay." He says sitting his cup on the counter as he looks at me suspiciously. He hesitantly turns around and starts walking to the living room. "You know where we'll be."

I quickly finish the last two bites of my sandwich and head back upstairs in a rush.

Something is up. I had a totally fucked up dream about Clary, and she had a bad dream too. I wonder what hers was about. In mine, we were at the beach tanning as we talked and then all of a sudden she got sucked down into the sand, as if it had become quicksand. For as long as I can remember, we've never had bad dreams on the same night, unless something was wrong or going to happen. So now I need to find out...

 _What it is._

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **As usual, let me know what you thought with a review.**

 **Until next time. MWAH!**


	18. What Does Today Have In Store?

**Jonathan**

"We were getting worried about you two." Alec says as Clary and Izzy make their way into the living room, arm in arm joining us.

"We're fine." They say in unison as they make their way over to the couch.

"Are you sure?" I ask curiously with raised eyebrows, since the looks on their faces seem to say differently.

"Yeah, why?" Clary asks confusedly with her eyebrows furrowed together.

"You both look exhausted and almost sickly." I explain.

"Geez, thanks for the compliment." Izzy mutters as she sits down on the couch next to me.

"Right." Clary says agreeingly as she sits down to Izzy right and Jace's left. She looks me directly in the eyes. "But for the record I feel fine, thank you very much."

"Alright." I say defeatedly as I throw my arms up. She looks away in triumph.

"What's the score?" Clary asks as she points to the coffee table where me, Jace, and Alec have a game of dominoes going.

"We don't know, your brother keeps doctoring the score pad." Alec says dramatically as he concentrates on his dominoes he's holding.

I shake my head slightly while rolling my eyes playfully. You accidentally put the score in the wrong spot twice, one of which wasn't even under my own name, and all of a sudden you're doctoring the score.

"So in other words, y'all aren't keeping score." Izzy says with a chuckle as she reaches for the score pad.

"Yeah, at least not anymore." Jace says with a small laugh.

"Does that mean we can jump in on the next hand?" Clary asks hopefully.

"Yep." Jace says simply as I say, "Yeah." and Alec says, "Sure."

"Cool beans!" Izzy says chipperly with a grin as she sits back on the couch, score pad in hand. She turns to an unmarked page. " _But_ , I'll be keeping the score."

"Good cause I don't want to get cheated." Clary says teasingly.

Clary reaches across the table, grabs Jace's beer and takes a big drink. Relief washes over me and I can see the relief on Jace's face as well as Alec's, the three of us know f she was sick she wouldn't be drinking.

"Excuse you." He says teasingly with a smirk.

"You need to eat something before you go to drinking." I say sternly as I point up at her.

"Aye, aye, captain." She says jokingly as she stands up while giving a salute.

"Well, hop to it then." I say with a wink.

Clary laughs and starts hopping towards the kitchen.

"Smartass." I say with a laugh and a grin as I roll my eyes playfully.

"Yeah but you love me and my smart assed-ness." She says with certainty.

"I don't even think that's really a real word." Alec says in amusement with an eyebrow raised and a smile.

"You can find it on google." Izzy says confidentially.

"We can prove it to ya if you want." Clary says assuredly from behind the couch.

"First you need to go eat like your brother said." Jace says decisively.

"Get her!" I say jokingly as I encourage him with a chuckle.

The room goes silent for a moment as if we're all waiting for somebody to attempt the challenge.

"That's what I thought." Clary says knowingly with a laugh, breaking the silence. "I'm going to make something to eat now. Anybody want?"

"No." We all say simultaneously.

I glance back over my shoulder as she's leaving the room and shake my head slightly at her. _Never a dull moment with her around._ I think to myself. I can already see it now. Since it's storming out which means we can't really do a whole lot and the fact that it's Izzy last day before classes start, Clary's going to do everything in her power to make sure it doesn't get boring. She is definitely going to...

 _Make this day interesting._

* * *

 **Jace**

"Here Izzy." I say handing her my dominoes, about ten minutes after Clary left for the kitchen. "I'm gonna go get something to eat." I say simply as I stand up.

"Mmm..hmm.." She says suspiciously while raising an eyebrow and smiling. "Sure you are."

"Oh, blow me." I say jokingly as I start around the couch and towards the kitchen.

"Nope." She says popping the p. "But I'm sure Clary will." She says teasingly just as I walk through the entrance to the kitchen.

I can faintly hear as Jon and Alec both groan in disgust; Jon saying 'I don't want to hear that shit.' and then Alec saying, "Yeah that's like hearing about your sex life, Izzy."

I quietly sneak up behind Clary, who's leaned against the island finishing off a sandwich. I wrap my arms around her waist and start placing small, slow kisses down the left side of her neck. She moans in pleasure and I see my shot, so I take it. I pull her closer to me as I continue to kiss down her neck and then along her shoulder. She turns around in my arms and when I see her face, she's smiling.

"Want to go up stairs?" I ask seductively as I raise my eyebrows up and down.

Her smile turns into a grin as she nods with an eyebrow raised.

"Here I am just getting out of bed and you want to put me back in it." She says teasingly.

I lean down. "So." I whisper in her ear.

"Well then," she says in a breath that I feel against the skin of my neck. She nips my ear, playfully, with her teeth; I groan lowly and my pants tighten. "Let's go." She whispers enthusiastically.

"You don't have to tell me twice." I say eagerly as I grab her left hand.

We head through the kitchen and up the stairs in a rush, a huge shit eating grin on my face the whole way.

Once we get in the room her hands go under my shirt and up my back as I pin her against the door, locking it, while kissing and nibbling on her neck. In one slow stroke I lick up her neck, across her jaw, to her lips; while I do she swallows hard and her muscles tense as she moans softly. She bites my tongue with just enough pressure that I groan, my dick growing harder and I want to be inside her even more than I already did. My hands grab the hem of her shirt and at the same time we begin to quickly remove each others shirts. As soon as my hands are free I immediately grab her hips and pull her to me, her right hand grabs my neck and her left grabs my shoulder as she pulls me. Our lips crash together in fiery passion, our tongues gliding against each other as they enter the other's mouth; she slides her right hand down from the back of my neck, across my chest and stomach, and begins rubbing my groin through my jeans. I groan as I move my hands up her sides to her back. I use my right hand to undo her bra clasp as she undoes the button to my pants. I use both hands to pull the straps of her bra off her shoulders and toss it to the side with my right hand while my left hand quickly goes to her ass check, gripping the hell out of it. My right hand goes to her left breast, holding it firmly, as I move my mouth from hers straight down to her nipple; tweaking it with my tongue and teeth, the noise she makes drives me insane. She unzips my pants, slides her hand into my boxers, and rubs by ball sack a couple of times. Her hand grips my cock and begins slowly jacking me off, I start sucking and nibbling my way up as I use my feet to take my shoes off - I silently curse myself for putting sneakers on today but still get them off in a flash. I suck on her neck and she bites my shoulder, playfully. That's it, I can't take no more. I grab her thighs and squeeze. Instantly her hand comes out of my boxers and goes around my neck as she jumps up, wrapping her legs around my hips and locking them. I step out of my pants and start to make my way to the bed, kissing along her shoulder until I get to the hollow spot of her neck; where I start sucking cause I know how it drives her crazy. She groans and runs her tongue up my neck to my ear, where she flicks my earlobe with it a couple of times.

"I want you." She says through a breath into my ear, sending a shiver through my body. I know, that she knows, exactly what she's doing to me.

She grabs my earlobe gently between her teeth; at first her tongue flicks at it, then she sucks on it for a second before biting. I smack her ass, and she pulls back slightly with it still in-between her teeth.

"You're so gonna get it." I say with a groan as I crawl onto the bed, laying her down.

"You think so." She says teasingly in a seductive voice.

"Oh yeah." I say with certainty in the husky voice that I know she loves.

I slide my hands along her thighs, across her hips, up her tight stomach, to her breasts and begin kissing down her bare chest. Her hands go into my hair and tighten as my mouth makes its way to her right breast. I stop there and flick her hard nipple with my tongue a couple of times before I suck as much of her breast into my mouth as I possibly can. She whimpers and I smile at my success as I gently squeeze her left breast. She slides her feet into the waist band of my boxers and begins pushing them down; she's always known how to do this and it still amazes me. She gets them down to my knees as I reach down with my right hand and start rubbing her crotch through the material of her blue jean cutoff shorts.

"That's teasing." She moans as her thighs tighten against my body.

"That's kinda the point." I say mischievously as I kiss my way down her body while continuing to rub her.

I pull her waist line down just a little with my left hand and stop to place a hot, wet kiss right beside her hip which causes her to arch her back up slightly as she moans and her hands tighten in my hair. Nice and slow I start placing small kisses along her waist line, then move to her inner thigh and she pulls my hair; I growl in pleasure at the ecstasy it causes as I unbutton her shorts. She lets go of my hair as I grab them and her panties in both hands, and begin pulling them down ever so slowly while placing kisses along her left leg on the way down. Once I get to her ankles, I yank the last of her clothes off, and throw them behind me. I hear them land somewhere across the room as I ogle my beautiful, naked angel while smiling proudly. She opens her eyes, smiling up at me, and motions for me to 'come here' with her right index finger. I shake my head slowly with a mischievous grin as I lift her right leg up and place a kiss on her ankle.

"Come on." She pleads with a pout. "We gotta make this a quickie or they'll think we're being rude."

"Screw them." I say as I place another kiss about a inch above where I kissed her ankle. "I want to make love to you."

"I'd rather not." She says simply.

I look at her incredulously with my eyebrows raised. There's no way she let me get this far just to stop us now. Right?

She leans up, holding herself up with her hands, and places a wet kiss to my pectoral. "I'd rather make love to you."

I breath out in relief. "Then lay back down and hush."

"It's like that now, huh?" She asks with a smile.

"Ya damn straight." I say as I use my right hand to push her back down to the bed.

She chuckles as she grips the pillows by her head.. "Well show me what you got then big boy."

"I'll show you boy." I say with a smirk. I know what she meant and I'm gonna give her exactly what she wants, and then some.

I hold her left leg down with one hand and with my other arm wrapped around her right leg, I run my tongue from the inside of her right thigh up to her clit; with one long upwards stroke of my tongue against her lips, she gasps as her legs tighten. She taste so good. I slide my tongue inside her and she squirms with a groan. I wrap both arms around her to hold her in place; she's not going to get away that easy. I bury my face into the warmth between her legs as I flick my tongue repeatedly on the inside of her - she's moaning with her head tilted back and her knuckles get whiter as she grips tighter onto the pillows. I slowly remove my tongue and blow against her wet pussy, she arches her back and grabs my hair while she shivers. I nibble on her lips which just makes her noises increase as she tightens her grip on my hair. I lick her nub a couple of times as she tries to get away.

"Jace." She moans breathlessly as I suck on her lips and tease her slit with my tongue as I do. "I. Need. You."

"Need me to what?" I ask against the wetness of her, as I play dumb. I want to hear her tell me what she needs, what she wants.

I quickly insert my tongue back inside of her as far as I can and she lets out a loud moan as her walls tighten on my tongue. I begin sliding my tongue in and out of her slowly because the taste of her is making me want to take my time. Besides she still hasn't told me what I want to hear. As I continue to tongue fuck her, I start rubbing her clit with my left thumb.

She trembles. "I. Want. You. Inside. Of. Me." She moans out between breaths.

I smile against her and pull my tongue out of her. I stroke my tongue up her lips one last time, she shivers, and climb up on top of her; she lets go of my hair with her right hand and moves it to my back, smiling.

"Like this?" I croak teasingly as quickly I insert two fingers deep inside of her, she gasps as her eyes open and her hands tighten. I do a come here motion with them, she groans while pulling my hair and her body arches. "Is this what you want?"

"No." She breaths out. She slides her hand down my back, around my side, across my dick, and grabs my ball sack. She squeezes, but not hard enough to hurt me, and I groan. "Give me what I want. Please." She begs as she brings her legs up, wrapping them around my back.

"Tell me what you want, baby." I say hoarsely as I move my fingers in and out of her faster.

"YOU!" She moans with a smile as she starts stroking my shaft.

I remove my fingers and wrap my arm around her left leg, pulling it up to my shoulder; she slides her right leg from my back, across my ass cheek, and wraps it behind my legs. Her hand slides to my hip just as I ram my rock hard nine inch cock completely inside of her hot, dripping wet pussy; her eyes go wide as she bites her bottom lip and moans loudly in ecstasy.

I lean forward and kiss her lips. "Is that what you want?"

"Yes." She breaths out against my mouth. She bites my bottom lip as I slowly thrust my hips back and forth. "God yes."

She claws at my chest as I slightly pick up my speed, and suck on her neck for a short moment. I place hot wet kisses up her neck, across her jaw, and to her mouth. She immediately allows my tongue entrance into her mouth.

After a moment - how long I'm not sure - of our tongues battling each other, placing hot kisses on each others necks and chest before sucking momentarily, as our bodies crash together in extreme passion; she hesitantly moves her mouth away from mine and kisses my shoulder, and this time I release her leg. I lean up just enough to watch myself going in and out of her as I begin teasing her; allowing her to have only the head and a couple inches of my shaft inside her. A few minutes later she tightens her legs, that are now wrapped around my waist, and thrust her hips forward with more force than she had been using; she takes me deep inside of her and I groan at the wonderful feeling as she moans. I pump faster as she drags her nails, on both hands, across my back while I keep glancing between her breasts and face.

"Jace. Oh God." She moans between breaths, getting louder each time she does, as her nails literally dig into my back. I pull my eyes away from her bouncing breasts to look her in the eyes, then I move my right hand down to start rubbing her clit. "Jace." She moans loudly. "JACE." Her eyes roll up in the back of her head, her mouth gapes open, as her head tilts back and her muscles tighten with her back arched while she quivers.

I don't slow down though - and why should I, she doesn't slow down when she's the one on top and I'm cumming plus, it's literally her fourth time this round _and_ it's the big one - instead I grab her hips, lifting her up, and thrust faster and deeper; going completely inside of her each time I pound her hot, slippery, pussy. She's still climaxing when I start calling out her name in moans, and it doesn't take much until even I can't take anymore this time. I lay against her body with my face buried in her neck as the glorious feeling of me bursting inside of her takes control over my body causing me to shudder. With me still inside her, she clamps her muscles down on my - not so hard anymore - dick; she knows what it does to me when she does this.

She chuckles at my spasm and releases her grip, but it doesn't last long before she does it again. "Want to go again?" She asks out of breath in a low hoarse voice as she does it for a third time.

"Thought you said we had to make it quick." I say through my teeth and a breath as I twitch again.

"So." She says mischievously.

I look over at the nightstand. "We've been up here for over an hour."

"Guess round two's out of the question then?" She ask curiously as I rub the right side of her ribs with my left thumb.

I chuckle against the left side of her neck. "Somebody's already shaking."

"I'm not the only one." She says proudly as she runs her left hand through my hair. She pulls my hair slightly and I look up at her, she's smiling down at me. "I love you."

"I love you too." I say smiling back at her. Then I kiss her neck.

"Mmmm." She moans as she wraps her right arm around me.

As we lay here holding each other - me still inside her and her legs around me - trying to regain enough strength to move, I'm still enjoying every bit of it. And to think, this wasn't what I was expecting when I woke up this morning. I thought this day was going to be a drag but I can see now that it wasn't going to be like that at all, instead it was...

 _Going to be amazing._

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed today's chapter!**

 **Let me know with a review!**

 **I can't believe this story is nearly over. I'm currently still working on chapter twenty-two and thinking of maybe a chapter twenty-three, but first I have to be allowed to finish the one I'm on before I make a definite decision.**

 **I most likely will not be posting tomorrow, due to the holiday. I will have a lot going on. So until next time. MWAH! Have a great 4th everybody and remember what the day is really meant to mean!**

* * *

 **To the Guest that asked me about the lemons. Hahaha. Oh and you have to rate stories as M if there's cussing in them, too. But like I've said before, there's no telling what kind of mood I'll be in when I write.**


	19. It's All Good, RIGHT!

**Clary**

Over a hour and a half after me and Jace went upstairs, we finally started to make our way back to the living room. I know I told Jace we had to make it a quickie since I didn't want to seem rude, but that was actually quick for us; especially considering we took a shower afterwards. We knew we were probably going to catch hell about disappearing for so long and we didn't need to make it worse by smelling of sex.

We walk into the living room and see that the three are still playing dominoes. As we get closer I stop and look at Alec's hand. I point to his next move and he looks up at me, I smile and then wink at him.

"Where have you two been?" Alec asks suspiciously with a knowing grin.

"Wouldn't you like to know." I say mysteriously with a smirk.

Alec looks back to the game as me and Jace sit down on the couch.

"You better keep your paws off my woman, Jace." Alec says jokingly as he makes his move. "Twenty!"

"Ummm, I'm telling Magnus." Izzy teases as she marks down Alec's points.

"Tell, tell, your booty smells." Jace chimes in playfully like a child.

"Uh, see if I try helping you out again." Izzy says in mock hurt while trying to hide her smile.

"Oh you know Magnus is all about his Biscuit." Jon says with a laugh. "Get it? Biscuit?"

We all bust out laughing loudly.

"You've really got issues." I say in laughter.

"I second that." Alec says laughing so hard that he nearly falls out of the loveseat. "We're all, _all_ about the Biscuit."

We all start laughing harder, and I can feel tears starting to form in my eyes.

"No you didn't." Jace says in laughter as he hits the arm of the couch.

Izzy snorts while laughing. "Oh yes he did."

I double over in laughter and I try to calm down so I can speak, let alone breath. I pinch my nose shut as I take a few deep breaths through my mouth, releasing them slowly.

"Well I guess I can go state to state and marry all of you." I say trying to use a serious tone but fail cause I'm still laughing slightly. I look over at Jon, he's beat red and laughing while holding his stomach. "Except you, I'm not marrying my own brother."

"And I'm not marrying my sister." He says in laughter as he falls off the couch.

"Doesn't matter." Jace says still laughing as he pulls me to him. "I'm not sharing, I'm stingy."

"She's mine." Alec says as Izzy says, "Not uh, she's mine."

I shake my head slightly. _Here we go again_. I think to myself.

"I'm everybody's remember." I say decisively, my laughter nearly stopped. Better to nip this in the bud now before they carry it on and I have to in at least twenty minutes from now. I know it's all in fun but my sides are already hurting from laughing so hard and I don't want to start crying from it too. I take a deep breath. "Now let's play some bones."

They all take audible deep breaths, calming their laughter as best as they can.

"I'll wash." Izzy says excitedly still with a hint of laughter.

"Y'all can finish your hands first." I say assuredly.

"I think Alec locked it down." Jon states with a chuckle as he points at the board. "See?"

I count the board and sure enough, Alec locked it down with the six's.

"Alright let's get this party started then." I say as I clap my hands and rub them together.

"I'm gonna go get a beer." Jace says as he stands up. "Who wants?"

"Me." Izzy and Alec say in unison, as I raise my hand.

"Jon?" Jace asks simply.

"I'm good for now, thanks though." Jon says as he lays his dominoes on the table.

I can see Jace walking away out the corner of my eye as me and Izzy start flipping dominoes over. When we get them all flipped over, she places her hands on top of them and starts moving them around; dominoes going everywhere as she does. One thing nobody can say about her is that she cheats when she washes, her hands spin the ivory so quick that they don't stay long under them for long. When she gets them washed really good, she pushes them to the center of the table.

"Alright are we gonna pull or just draw and whoever has the biggest double goes first?" Alec asks curiously.

"It doesn't matter to me." I say simply with a shrug. Just then something touches my right shoulder causing me to jump up. "MOTHER FUCKER! That's cold!"

Jace laughs as he steps in front of me, handing Alec a beer. "Well you do say hot beer taste like piss."

"What's that got to do with the price of rice in China?" I ask sarcastically.

"Nothing really." He replies with a shrug and smile. "But at least it's not hot."

I squint my eyes at him. "You're sooo gonna pay for that."

He winks with a smirk. "Promises, promises."

I roll my eyes playfully at him. I sigh with a smile. "Can I have my beer now?"

"What no witty comeback?" He asks in disbelief as he hands me a beer.

"Nope." I say popping the p. I sit back down as I open the bottle and grin mischievously. "I've got other plans in mind."

"You're fucked now dude." Alec says with a chuckle.

"I'd sleep with one eye open if I were you." Jon adds with a laugh.

"You can always sleep in another room, and lock the door." Izzy says teasingly as she grabs a beer from Jace.

"That wouldn't save him." I say with certainty. I take a drink. "I've got keys to every room in this house."

"She wouldn't hurt me." Jace says hesitantly as he sits down beside me. "Much."

"Yeah don't forget that much." Jon says with a laugh.

I laugh. "Can we play some dominoes now, I'm in the mood to kick some asses."

Everybody reaches in the pile and draws five a piece.

"I think we need to add the other set." I say suggestively.

"That's not a bad idea, Clare-Bear." Izzy says agreeingly.

"I'll get them." Jon says simply. He gets up and walks over to the shelf where all different kinds of games are kept; we still have games over there like Shute's and Ladders, Candy Land, and even the old version of Monopoly. Even from where I sit, I can see that he grabs the green set. I smile as I remember all the times I smoked him, Izzy, Jace, Alec, and Bat with that set when we were in high school. He walks back over, dumps them on the table, and begins shuffling them around.

"Six more." I say happily as I reach out to grab mine.

Everybody else reaches in and grabs theirs, and we start our game with Alec since he's the furthest to the right. Me and Izzy keep the score pad between us as we play so that none of the guys can cheat; they've always had a tendency to start marking down extra points for themselves when me and Izzy were beating them.

"Tennis shoes." I say as I slam my domino down on the table when we're at least three beers and a couple of hands in.

Izzy writes it down and then follows my lead by slamming hers down. "I'll take the same."

KNOCK, KNOCK. DING DONG.

I roll my eyes playfully as I shake my head slightly. There's only one person that does that.

"COME IN!" We all yell simultaneously.

In walks Bat with a grin. "Ding dong mother fuckers, ding dong."

" _Somebody_ has watched my boys recently." I say teasingly with a chuckle. "Now I want to have a Boondock marathon, again."

"Hell yeah!" Jace says excitedly as Jon says, "I'm game!" enthusiastically as Alec says, "Shoot yeah!" cheerfully, and as Izzy says, "That's what I'm talking about." happily.

We all love the Boondock Saints movies and can't wait until they get three finished; Boondock Saints: Legion, oh yeah it's gonna kick some serious ass! All the action, gun slinging, plots, and who couldn't love the shots of the naked brothers; talk about yummy! All the guys - Norman, Sean, Troy, and David or Rocco as most call him - are all really cool in person too. We've met them at a couple of Comic Con's before and when me and Izzy took Max with us the last time we went, they -Norman, Sean, and Troy - even remembered us, BY NAME. Who couldn't love that? They are seriously some cool ass mother fucker's to be around, they're so down to earth and haven't let their fame go to their heads like some of the others have.

"That sounds great." Bat says agreeingly. "But first.." He pauses.

"What?" Izzy asks curiously with a hint of annoyance in her tone after a minute of him not saying anything else. We all hate when he does this, and what makes it worse is he always does it on purpose just to get a rise out of us cause he knows it drives us crazy.

"Do y'all remember my grandfather's old truck shop?" Bat asks excitedly with a smile as he sits down in the chair to the left of the couch and Jon.

"Yeah." Jace, Alec, and Jon reply simultaneously.

"Why?" Alec adds confusedly.

"Okay I remember last night y'all were talking about still needing a place to set up shop, so I talked to my mom and..." Bat pauses and then grins knowingly. "I've got a suggestion."

"Well spill." Jace says intriguingly.

"Ehhh, I don't know." Bat says teasingly with a sly smile.

"Come on man, that's not cool." Jon says in his whinny voice.

"Alright she's been wanting to sell the place cause she's tired of it just sitting there and having to still pay the property taxes on it." Bat explains.

"And?" Jon and Jace asks curiously yet excited.

" _And_ , she's willing to sell it to you guys with a stipulation." Bat informs them as he scrunches up his nose.

"Okay you have got to quit being so vague already." I say sternly with raised eyebrows.

"Keep your pants on boss lady." Bat says jokingly with a wink.

"To late for that." Jace mumbles under his breath proudly with amusement. I elbow him and he makes an 'ooff' sound.

Bat takes a deep breath. "She'll do owner finance but only for y'all _and_ she also wants free oil changes, tune-up's, and tire rotations for the rest of her life." He explains with a grin.

"Seriously?" Me and Izzy ask simultaneously, her tone suspicious and mine in excitement.

I look around at the guys, they all look frozen in shock and disbelief.

"Somebody needs to say something." I say exasperatedly as I look at each of them again.

Alec shakes his head, as if trying to free himself from the invisible hold that the news had on him. "How much?" He asks skeptically.

"Well, I really didn't get _all_ the details, but it won't be hard to find out." Bat explains simply.

Izzy leans over to me. "Guess now we won't have to worry about taking out that loan after all. And to think you wanted to use your trust fund." She whispers in my ear. She pulls back with her beautiful smile that I always love seeing on her face and haven't been seeing as much of lately.

"And you got upset with me for no reason." I whisper teasingly.

She rolls her eyes playfully. "You shouldn't have been so quick to jump to that idea." She says with certainty.

"What would I do without you?" I ask in all seriousness.

"You'd be lost." She says confidentially.

"You're probably right." I say agreeingly.

I look out across the room at everybody. "How about we start a new game so Bat can play too?"

They all agree and we start a new game while the four guys continue their conversation about what is in the shop and if it still works. I can't believe this is really happening for them. It makes me so happy knowing that their plans and dreams are finally becoming a reality.

About ten minutes into a new conversation my phone goes off in an emergency alarm, and they all look at me expectantly. In a rush, I set my dominoes down and grab my phone to read the message.

 **HURRICANE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED TO BE ON LAND, TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.**

"Guys we've got to get to the basement, NOW!" I blurt out quickly.

Everybody drops their dominoes while jumping up from their spots and we take off running to the basement. And a few things start to run through my mind at the same time. I wish I knew where the rest of the gang was and that they were safe. Please don't let anybody get hurt and there only be minimum damage, everywhere. Good thing we've got a generator if the power goes out here. Holy fucking shit!

I grab Izzy's arm just as we reach the basement door. "This is what our dreams meant."

She looks at me with terror in her eyes. "We all make it through this, right?"

"I sure hope so."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **Let me know what you think with a review.**

 **Now you know what the dreams meant. Well, maybe. Lol.**

 **Anyway, I hope everybody had a great Fourth. Mine was great, even in the thirty minutes when hell broke loose. Haha.**

 **Until next time. MWAH!**


	20. After The Storm

**Clary**

It's been two weeks to the day and I still haven't been able to come to terms with Izzy being gone. We've always been together, nine times out of ten if one was there so was the other, and now it's just me. What am I going to do without her? Lord, please help me, I don't know how much longer I can handle this. I feel like I'm missing an arm or a le-

"Well?" Jon asks curiously pulling me out of my thoughts.

I shake my head slightly as I blink my eyes. "Hmm?" I ask confusedly as I look over to my left at him. I'm not sure how long he was talking to me while I was in my own world.

"You weren't even listening." He says exhaustively as he throws his arms up in the air. I know he's been a little worried about me, and is probably starting to get annoyed too, since I keep spacing out all the time. I don't mean to but I just can't help it. "Are you coming in with me and Jace, or not?"

I start sliding across the front seat of Jon's truck. "Yeah." I hop out and land right in front of Jace.

His eyes lock with mine. "Thinking of Izzy again?" He asks sincerely with a sad smile as he puts his hands on my hips.

I place my hands on his biceps. "Uh huh." I say with a nod.

"You know she's not really gone." He says sweetly with a half smile. He kisses my forehead. "She's just at school."

"I know, but I didn't think it would be this hard." I admit with my bottom lip sticking out slightly. "I mean I know she was in school without me before and we didn't have any classes together when we were, but we still seen each other on campus all the time."

"It's just going to take some time adjusting to, you know." He says reassuringly with a small smile as he puts his left hand to my right cheek. "But at least she lives at the house now, doesn't that count for something?"

"I guess so." I say with a sigh. "But she basically lived there before she moved in anyway."

"I'll make you a deal, you _try_ to cheer up and after we're done here, we'll surprise Izzy with lunch." He says cheerfully.

"You guys won't be done with the rest of inventory and checking out what needs repairs by then." I say with certainty.

"Then we'll just blow this popsicle stand before lunch time." Jon says as he puts a hand on my left shoulder, causing me to jump slightly. Wow, that's the third time he's caught me off guard today. But that's still better than yesterday though or the days before that, except over the weekends when Izzy _is_ home; I'm myself then and nothing gets past me.

"Really?" I ask excitedly with a smile. Wait a minute. "You guys are really gonna leave before you get it all done?" I ask skeptically with raised eyebrows.

"Why not." Jace says decisively instead of questioning. "It's not like we can't come back afterwards."

"And we have all of tomorrow morning." Jon adds reassuringly.

"You guys would seriously do that for me?" I ask curiously as I look back and forth between the top two most important guys in my life.

"Duh." Jon says sarcastically as Jace says, "Of course." with a look of disbelief on his face.

It really was a stupid question and I know I didn't really need to ask it; cause they'd both do whatever they could for me, especially if it meant I was happy. But sometimes I just feel like I need to make sure, besides it's good to hear every once in awhile.

"Well then, let's get to work." I say with a smile.

The three of us start walking towards the old shop, Jon on my right and Jace on my left. I loop my arms through theirs as I begin singing ' _Hey, Hey, We're The Monkees by none other than The Monkees_ ' and the two chuckle while following my lead, we even start doing the walk as we sing through our laughter. As we get closer to the building I can just see it now, this place isn't going to even look like the same place once it's all said and done. It is going to look _and_ be amazing, just like the three guys that run and own it. I sigh happily. This is what it's like when...

 _Your dreams come true._

* * *

 **Isabelle**

Sitting here in the coffee shop with Magnus, I can't help but thinking how the start of this year has definitely been harder than the past two years. I had gotten so use to Clary being on campus with me and us meeting up here in-between classes to moan, groan, bitch, and complain about our professors or something some idiot did in class; but she's not here to do those things this year and it blows, BIG TIME.

"Well, I did it again." Todd says as he sits down at our table with drinks for all of us.

"Don't feel bad," I say with a sigh. "I've done it every time it was my turn to buy."

"We all have." Magnus states sadly. He sighs. "It's _definitely_ going to take awhile to stop these urges of ordering her coffee."

"Ain't that the truth." I say with a yawn.

"Boring class or a sleepless night?" Todd asks teasingly with a smirk as he brings his frappuccino to his mouth.

"Not enough caffeine." I say grabbing my coffee. I take a big drink and Magnus looks at me knowingly with a smile while raising his eyebrows. "What?" I ask curiously.

"Oh nothing." He says in a chipper tone.

I roll my eyes playfully while shaking my head slightly at him. "Look. I was working out with Clary until nearly eleven and when I finally decided to go to bed it was after midnight, then it dawned on me that I had to be up at six so I could run over to my mom's house to find my portfolio I forgot."

"Mmm hmm. And Jon had nothing to do with it, did he?" He teases.

"Maybe." I say mysteriously against the rim of my cup with a smile.

"That's a yes." Todd says with a chuckle.

I playfully hit his arm. "When's your hottie coming in?" I ask in attempt to take the focus off of me and my sex life.

"He should be here this weekend." Todd says happily.

"That's great! I can't wait to meet him." I say eagerly.

Magnus laughs. "He'll probably change his mind about moving down here after he meets the gang, they do tend to be a tad on the crazy side." He says teasingly.

"Nawh, he'll fit right in by the time we're done with him." I say with a laugh.

"Oh shit, you guys are gonna corrupt him. Aren't you?" Todd asks nervously.

I smile. "We wouldn't do something like that." I say innocently in mock hurt. Todd and Magnus both give me a look that says 'bullshit' and I laugh. "Okay, but it didn't take us long to corrupt either of you." I say proudly.

"She's got us there." Magnus says truthfully as he shrugs his shoulders. He picks his phone up off the table and lights it up. He sighs dramatically. "Time to get to the next class, Pudding."

"Noo." I whine. "I don't want to."

"Well, tough titty said the kitty but you're still going to class." He says sternly as he stands up.

"That's not how that saying goes." I state as I stand up, and Todd chuckles at us.

"I know. I changed it to fit my liking." He says decisively.

"I guess." I say with a chuckle. I lean over and give Todd a kiss on his left cheek. "See ya later."

He kisses my right cheek. "Yeah see ya." He says with a smile as he stands up. "I've gotta get to my next class too."

As Todd and Magnus say goodbye, I feel so grateful that I still have the two of them here with me. True it's not like it use to be, _but_ it's nice to have somewhat of the old routine.

Once me and Magnus are on the way to our business class I can't help but thinking how I'm just so glad this is my last year before I get my bachelors for fashion. I know I could've taken that internship that my professor offered me during enrollment, but I really want my degree before I emerge into the industry. Plus, I'd really like to focus on my own line instead of working for somebody else's. That's one reason I've been taking these damn business classes for years. Oh the sacrifices I've made. But, I guess this is what it takes in order to...

 _Make my dreams come true._

* * *

 **Jace**

Since Bat and his mom went to New York for a family emergency, we weren't able to get the keys to _our_ new shop until yesterday. Therefore, the only thing we've actually been able to do is check the yard and outside structure of the building - the roof is in desperate need of re-shingling, we've got fencing down everywhere, and the whole place is in definite need of a paint job. So me and Jon were all for it when Clary agreed to get out of the house and wanted to come help us today; with Izzy in school now, Clary has been moping _a lot_ \- she's spacing out, walking around like a zombie, and sleeping all the time; it almost seems like depression to me.

Between, the three of us, we were able to get the large lobby and office area of the building inspected and inventoried rather quickly. We didn't find much of anything that we can really use at least from what we could check since the electric isn't on, yet. However, we did find some minor damage that we'll have to fix before we can pass inspection so that we can open; but it's the shop part that really has me nervous.

"I still can't believe the deal we're getting on this place!" Jon says enthusiastically as the three of us walk towards the entrance of the shop.

"Yeah it does seem like a steal." Clary says agreeingly as she puts her right hand on the door knob. She looks over her shoulder with a smile at me and Jon. "You guys ready?"

"No." I say quickly as I shake my head furiously.

She turns to face me with her hand still on the doorknob. "And just why not?" She asks incredulously with her eyebrows furrowed together.

"There's really no telling what kind of shape we're going to find it in, in there." I say hesitantly as I point at the door.

"It's going to be fine." She says reassuringly as she starts turning the knob, slowly.

"Besides that's why we're doing this." Jon says decisively as he puts his hand on my left shoulder. "This way when we meet with the loan officer at the bank tomorrow we'll know how much to ask for."

"I know you're both right but-" I begin.

"We all have one." Clary says jokingly with a smile as she interrupts my explanation and cracks the door open slightly. I know she's trying to help lighten the tension I'm feeling and I'm glad to see that she's in a better mood than she was earlier this morning.

I chuckle as I shake my head slightly. "Alright." I say with a sigh with a small smile. "Open it up then."

She flings the door open and motions with both of her hands for us to enter. I take a deep breath before I fall in behind Jon.

"Thank you." I whisper as I stop in front of Clary. She smiles and I kiss the top of her head. "Come on."

She grabs my right hand and squeezes it slightly in reassurance as we walk through the door.

Jon is turning around in a circle. "Wow! It's even bigger than it looks from the outside." He says in amazement as he's checking the place out.

I playfully scoff at him. "You act like you've never been in here before." I say teasingly with an eyebrow raised and a smile.

"Yeah I know. It's just been so long that I forgot how big this place really is." Jon says simply.

"I didn't forget how hot gets in here." Clary says exasperatedly. I look over at her and she's got a hold to her shirt with her right index finger and thumb, just between her breast, pulling it to fan herself with it.

"Let's get a couple of these doors open, we've got to check them anyway and it'll get some air following through here." I say determinedly as I start making my way towards one of the doors on the left side.

I get one half way up when the door beside me starts to rise, I look over and it's Clary.

"Five bay doors!" Jon yells excitedly a moment later from the other side of the extremely large room and you can hear that he's opening one of the doors that's over there.

"Technically ten!" Clary shouts back teasingly just as she gets her door completely open. "There are five on each side." She says matter-of-factly.

I turn around to start checking out equipment. To bad none of us are certified diesel mechanics like Bat use to be, when he worked here with his grandpa before he went to work on the police force, we'd have everything _and_ then some. I spot a black truck tarp that has paint all over it out of the corner of my eye covering something big. I walk over, pull the tarp back and gasps at what's revealed...

There's an extra heavy duty work stand and numerous professional paint and body equipment, including paints that are probably no good but still; there's a lot of equipment here that Alec can use and means less money we have to shell out for that stuff. I look around some more and find an older model generator. I open the fuel tank and there's still gas inside, I put the cap back on and decide to give it a try. I'll be damned, it bust right off, we can really check shit out now. I smile as everything that gets hooked to it works. Hell to the fucking yeah...

 _Dreams are finally becoming reality!_

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **I bet you all thought that Izzy was killed in that hurricane. HA! None of the characters were harmed.**

 **Let me know what you think with a review.**

 **Oh, I have decided to do a chapter twenty-three.**

 **Until next time. MWAH!**

* * *

 **KB: I know ,I'm evil. Lol. I'm sure that's one thing you're going to say. Bwahaha.**

 **Guest: I'm glad you are loving the updates, and the story. Thank you for reading!**


	21. Interesting Day

**Alec**

I'll be glad when all the legal crap is over with. I know it all needs to be in order so that we'll be able to open the shop once we get past inspection but I'm getting exhausted from spending my week days bouncing between my mom's office, the courthouse, and City Hall.

I've already spent half the day doing just that and thankfully, I'm done for the rest of it; can't do much when you're at a stand still. Shit! We have the appointment about getting the loan for repairs at the bank and it's at the exact same time that I have the appointment about our permits, tomorrow. I'm just going to have to tell Jace and Jon, when I get to the shop to help, that I'm not going to be able to go with them to meet with the loan officer. I know they'll be okay with it, after all they're just as eager as I am to get the ball rolling, but they need to know so that they aren't expecting me to show and end up holding the meeting up. _Breath_. I remind myself. _Just Breath_. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. Everything is going to be fine, it's all going to work out. Just chill out Alec. You've got this. They've got this. We've got this. Things are looking up, so everything's going to...

 _Be just fine._

* * *

 **Isabelle**

"Isabelle Lightwood and Magnus Bane." A deep voice that I don't recognize calls from behind, freezing us in our tracks. "I have an important matter to discuss with you both."

I cut my eyes over to my right at Magnus. "What did we do?" I ask worriedly.

He shrugs. "I don't know, but I don't like the sound of it." He whispers.

Before I can turn around something hits me in the back. "What the hell?" I ask incredulously through the breath that was just knocked out of me as arms wrap around me and squeeze, tightly. I look over at Magnus, he shrugs and it looks like he's trying not to smile. I try to see who is holding on to me over my right shoulder but they move with me and I can't see anybody. I hear a barely audible snicker. "So not funny." I say with a sigh as I shake my head slightly.

"I thought it was." The familiar sound of Clary's voice says from behind me, and I smile.

"You nearly gave me a heart attack." I say teasingly as I grab her hands.

"Well, it's a good thing I know CPR then." Clary says reassuringly. She pops her head over my shoulder, resting her chin on it. "Hi, Mag-Pie." She says cheerfully.

"Hi, Biscuit." He says with a chuckle. "What are you out doing, besides trying to give people heart failure?"

"Come to bring you guys lunch." She releases her death grip on me and walks around to stand in front of us. "You haven't eaten lunch yet have you?" She asks suspiciously with an eyebrow raised as she puts her hands on her hips.

"No. We were heading to the culinary café when you decided to scared the shit out of us." I explain.

"Well good, cause I've got something better than that." She says proudly with a big smile. She looks around and her eyebrows furrow together. "Where's Todd?" She asks curiously.

"Either still in class or waiting for us at the café." Magnus says simply.

"Oh." She says with a sigh. She tilts her head back and forth a couple of times and looks like she's debating something. "Okay then, you two come with me and I'll text him where to meet us." She says decisively.

She starts to walk away and we fall in step on each side of her. "Where are we going anyway?" I ask suspiciously.

"You'll see, but I know you're gonna like it." She says confidentially as she wraps her right arm through my left while texting.

We walk across campus, towards the big fountain, and around it to the side that has shade trees along it. There sits Jace and Jon on a blanket with barbeque chicken and what looks like potato salad, and macaroni salad. I smile at the wonderful surprise. This day is...

 _Definitely looking up._

* * *

 **Jonathan**

Lunch went by quick today. However, that's how it always seems to work when you're having fun. All in all though, I'd say it was a success. Not only did it make Clary happy, which put Jace in an even better mood, but I also got to hang out with Izzy, Magnus, and Todd, too; all while enjoying some good food. It's just a shame that the time flew by so quickly. It don't seem like we even had enough time to talk about everything we did; the shop, Alec's birthday party that the girls with some help from Magnus have been trying to plan for a week now, the classes the three - Izzy, Magnus, and Todd - had next, surfing and the beach which made them want to cut classes the rest of the day, and of course the six of us were picking at each other the whole time.

After it was over me, Clary, and Jace headed to his truck. She told us to just drop her off at home because she wanted to get some of her own school work done before Izzy got out of class and they went on their date, as she called it. I asked her what kind of date and she responded vaguely, saying they had some business they needed to take care of. With the mood she's been in lately, I knew better then to ask any more questions. If she wanted me to know she'd tell me. So we dropped her off and then went back to the shop to get some more work done.

We pulled into the lot and Alec's truck was already parked there. Which honestly surprised me, it wasn't something I had been expecting. I didn't think he'd be able to show at all today, not since he's been so busy with trying to get all the legal aspects accomplished; so that we'll be able to open shop, as soon as we've passed inspection.

When me and Jace got inside, Alec told us about the predicament we now found ourselves in. Come tomorrow we were going to find ourselves in the situation of needing to be in two places at once. Me and Jace assured him that we could handle the bank on our own and that he shouldn't miss that appointment because we needed it done, and we wouldn't be able to wait for another available opening to get the permits, especially the ones we need just to fix the place up. Alec agreed but he was still panicky, and it took a little while to calm him down before he hyperventilated. I think the stress is finally getting to him, since he very rarely ever gets like this. Once he was calm, Jace showed him all the equipment he found this morning, and we started plugging things into the generator just as the electric _finally_ came on - when we went to have it turned on, they told us it would be first thing this morning. We cheered for a minute and got to work on checking everything out thoroughly, since we had better lighting than earlier. Needless to say, it was a very productive afternoon.

Now, as me and Jace drive down the road heading home and Alec is headed to his, all I want to do is take a shower, chow down on some food, relax on the couch with my feet propped up, have a cold beer in my hand, and watch something on the television until I decide to take my ass to bed. Oh what a day, but at least...

 _It was eventful._

* * *

 **Clary**

After mine and Izzy's _lovely_ yearly exam - I really hate them, you are basically violated without any kind of pleasure, it's sooo uncomfortable - we went to the mall to do some shopping for Alec's birthday party. Then we went and printed off a few of the more recent pictures we've taken. Of course, new pictures mean you need new picture frames, so we decided to get a picture frame or two for them. We have been looking through frames for a least thirty minutes now and only have one frame, so far. It's a simple black wooden frame and holds three landscape styled, five by sevens in a gold colored mat. It's so hard to find frames that you like and can decorate the way you want.

"I like this one." Izzy says with holding up a cherry stained frame with little gold embellishments around the edges. "We could even add sparkles." She says with amusement.

"You and Magnus with your sparkles." I say teasingly with a small laugh as I lean a black frame with gold trim back in its place. "It's not really suppose to be about what you like though, it's about what _they'll_ like."

She rolls her eyes playfully. "I know." She says with a dramatic sigh as she places it back where it came from.

She takes a couple of steps to her right and starts looking through some more frames that are stacked along the shelves, on each side of the aisle, and I go back to looking through the ones I had been a minute ago.

"What about this one?" She asks jokingly after a moment. I look over at her, and this time, she's holding a powderpuff blue one in her hands.

I shake my head slowly. "Yeah, definitely not." I say with a chuckle. Just then a frame catches my eye. "What about that one?" I ask as I point to it.

Izzy turns around, looking to the same area that I'm pointing at, and puts her right hand on a black, iron like, frame that has swirls coming off it. "This one?" She ask confusedly.

"No." I say as I shake my head, as if she can see me. "The one next to it."

She moves her hand to it and runs her fingers over the nineteen by nine inch, metallic gold frame with a black top mat and a canary yellow bottom mat that holds two, five by seven, pictures. It's simple but it's just perfect for what we plan to do to it.

"OHH! I like!" She says enthusiastically. She looks over her shoulder at me with a smile and I can see a twinkle in her eye. "It's perfect! We should get this one."

"I agree." I say with a smile. "Let's go pay for all this stuff and get out of here then."

She picks up the frame and spins around on her heel. "Well let's bounce then." She says as she takes a bouncing step towards me.

"Let's bounce." I say with a smirk. She smiles back, knowingly.

The two of us literally start bouncing, as we make our way down the aisle, all the way to the register. The man behind the counter, along with countless other customers, staring at us like we've lost our damn minds as we do. _But, we never had them to lose_. I tell myself, jokingly. And I honestly, could care less about what these people think. All in all, this day has been pretty interesting and at this point, very few things could bring me down from this high I'm feeling. Now..

 _I just hope those things don't happen._

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed today's chapter!**

 **As always, let me know what you think with a review!**

 **Until next time. MWAH!**

* * *

 **Guest that says I'm evil. LMAO. I hear that a lot. And I'm proud to say, that I own it! Lol.**


	22. Surprise, Surprise

**Jace**

Clary and Izzy weren't home when me and Jon got here, so I went straight upstairs and took a shower. Then I went downstairs, made me something to eat, grabbed a beer out the refrigerator, and plopped my ass down on the couch. Shortly after, Jon joined me with a six pack in hand.

We've been sitting here relaxing, with our feet propped up on the coffee table, watching the movie, _'My Baby's Daddy'_ for about forty-five minutes now, and the girls still haven't made it home yet. Honestly, I'm beginning to worry, when I talked to Clary she said they were-

KNOCK, KNOCK. DING DONG.

YES! Just what I needed, a distraction before my thoughts started to run wild.

"COME IN!" Jon shouts across the room.

In walks Bat, but he doesn't look like his normal self. He looks like something is bothering him.

I sit up straight. "What's up?" I ask curiously yet worried with my eyebrows furrowed together.

"I've got bad news." He says in a strained voice. This definitely isn't him, something is seriously wrong. He looks around. "Where is everybody?"

"The girls are out shopping, and Alec's probably at Magnus' by now." Jon explains with worry in his tone. "Is everything alright? Where's Maia? Is she alright?"

"Maia's fine." Bat says assuredly. He takes a deep breath. "I really wanted to do this with everybody here." He mutters through the release of breath.

"Do what?" I ask impatiently as I scoot to the edge of the couch.

Bat sighs. "The department promoted me."

"How's that bad?" Jon asks confusedly. "I'd think, that'd be good news."

Bat shakes his head with a frown on his face. "No, it's bad. It means.." He hesitates. "I have to move."

"Move where?" Me and Jon ask curiously, in unison.

"Upstate." Bat says simply as he sits down in the chair.

" _What?"_ Jon asks incredulously. "You can't-"

"They can't just expect you to pack up and leave without talking to you about it, first." I say with certainty, interrupting Jon.

"They did, today, and I have until the end of the week to make a decision." Bat sighs. "I really don't want to move, I really don't want to leave everybody behind." He says sadly.

"You wouldn't be leaving everybody behind." Jon says reassuringly. He stands up, walks over to the chair, and puts his right hand on Bat's left shoulder as he sits on the arm. "We'll all come visit you, and y'all can come visit us."

"Actually." Bat says before pausing for a short moment. "It might just be me. I haven't told Maia yet, I came straight here right after I found out." He explains. "She's not going to want to move anymore than I do." He says sounding depressed as he shake his head.

The three of us go completely quite.

Bat's been with us since Alec and Jon started high school. He was the first addition to our gang and is considered an original. He's done things and been through things with us that none of the others have. He's family. So if there's a way to keep from losing him, I know we _will_ figure it out. Light bulb!

As I start telling them my idea, Jon starts grinning and Bat is a little hesitant. And while we discuss it, I keep thinking how, either way this goes...

 _Everything is gonna be alright._

* * *

 **Jonathan**

Bat stuck around for nearly a hour before leaving to go home. But when he did, he was in a much better mood then when he got here. About twenty minutes afterwards the garage door opens and in walks Clary and Izzy.

"Hey guys, wanna help us bring in the groceries?" Izzy asks politely as she carries bags towards the kitchen.

"Sure." Jace says simply as I say, "Alright." We both get up from the couch and start making our way to the garage.

"We found New York strips on sale, so the trunk is nearly full." She adds with a chuckle. Alright, the good steaks! Mine and Clary's favorite because they have more meat on them and they're great for grilling.

"There's some bags from the mall in there, don't touch them." Clary shouts from the direction of the kitchen.

I stop at the door and look towards the kitchen. "Why?" I ask curiously.

"Because I said." Clary says sternly as she comes through the kitchen entrance.

I walk through the door and head for Clary's car. Jace has three bags, and is reaching for another one.

"Not that one." I say as I pop his hand playfully.

"Why not?" He asks confusedly as he looks up at me.

"Clary's orders." I say simply with a shrug.

"That's right." Clary says firmly, immediately after. I look over at her, just as she walks around the car with Izzy beside her. I shake my head slightly and begin grabbing bags.

"What's in it?" Jace asks curiously.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Clary says teasingly.

"That _is_ why I asked." He says dramatically.

"You'll find out soon." Izzy says reassuringly.

"I guess." Jace says nonchalantly as he grabs another bag.

We finish carrying in the bags and then get started on putting the groceries away. The whole time my mind keeps wandering to those bags that Clary and Izzy didn't want us to carry in, and set on the coffee table. I want to know what's inside, and I want to know why we weren't allowed to carry them. Needless to say...

 _My interest is peaked, BIG TIME!_

* * *

 **Isabelle**

""We got something for you guys, today." I tell Jon and Jace as I look through one of the bags of stuff that me and Clary got earlier at the mall.

"A couple of things." Clary mumbles under her breath, from beside me. She says it so low, that I'm sure that only I can hear her. I nudge her left arm with my right elbow, playfully.

"Which bag?" I ask curiously as I look over at her and set down the bag of party supplies that I was just going through. I know we hid it all from the guys, but I can't remember which bags we stashed them in.

She points to a bag to my left, on the coffee table. "That one." She leans over to me. "Which one first?" She whispers in my ear.

"The one for al-" I begin to whisper back.

"What are you two whispering about?" Jon asks suspiciously, as he interrupts me.

"Nothing." Me and Clary say innocently, in unison.

"Mmm...hmm... Sure you are." Jace says teasingly with a chuckle.

I playfully roll my eyes. "Anyways." I say with a chuckle. "Which one?"

"That's the bag there then." Clary says confidently as she points at the same bag, again.

"You're sure?" I ask, still a little unsure, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yep." She says popping the p. "How? You? Me? You and me?" She asks in the code that only the two of us know. We created it years ago so that the guys, or anybody else, wouldn't always know what we were talking about.

"I will, and you can the other." I reply in code.

"Gee, thanks." She says sarcastically.

"You're welcome." I say in a cheery tone as I reach for the bag. I move a couple of shirts that we got Alec for his birthday, and see it.

"Will you hurry it up already?" Jon asks impatiently.

I pull my hand out the bag, empty, and look up at him with both eyebrows raised. "If you're going to act like that, then you just won't get anything." I tease.

Jon scoffs. "We'll see about that." He says confidently with a smirk.

"Keep it up and find out. You know it's not to late, we can always take it back to the store." Clary says with a slight attitude, but I know she's just picking at him.

"Fine, I'll behave." Jon says holding his hands up in defeat. "Please, will you hurry up?"

"I don't know." Clary says as if she's thinking about it. "Maybe, we should wait until tomorrow. Then we could give it to all of them."

"You can't do that." Jace protests.

"Oh, yes we can." Clary says with a laugh. I look over at her. She has her arms folded over her chest with a smirk on her face and an eyebrow raised.

"But, that's not fair." Jace whines.

"Life's not fair." Clary says with certainty.

"Okay, you got me there." Jace says defeatedly.

"Alright, now that we've established that life isn't fair, and that me and Clary have the power, shut up so we can get on with this then." I say firmly as I look back and forth between Jace and Jon.

They both nod in agreement. I reach back in the bag and pull it out. It's the black

I reach back in the bag and pull it out. Revealing the black picture frame that we bought and decorated in the parking lot of the mall. I turn it around so they can see the front of it, and their faces light up. Along the top of the picture frame it reads 'The Family Auto Shop' directly beneath it, in the first five by seven spot, is a picture of Alec, Jace, and Jon, standing with their arms around each other outside at one of our barbeques, below it to the left reads 'Then' with a picture of what the shop looks like now and just to the right of that reads 'Now' with an empty spot for a picture of the shop once they're done fixing it up. At the bottom of the frame hangs the ad that Clary came up with and designed for them, attached to the back of it.

"Awesome!" Jon says as Jace says, "Cool!" both in amazement.

"Thank you!" Jace adds happily.

"Yeah, thank you!" Jon says cheerfully. He pauses. "But.." He says hesitantly.

"What?" Me and Clary ask curiously in unison, as I put my hands on my hips.

I stare at Jon and Jace as neither of them say anything else.

"We need you to add diesel to that ad, Clary." Jace says vaguely, finally breaking the silence after a minute.

"Why?" She asks confusedly. "Did you decide to go to get certified for diesel mechanics?" She asks suspiciously.

"Nope." He says with a knowing smile.

"Did you?" I ask Jon as I look him in the eyes.

"Uh, no." Jon says simply as he shakes his head slightly.

"Okay, then why?" Clary asks suspiciously.

Jon and Jace share a knowing look between each other, Jon nods and then they turn to look back to us.

"Bat." Jace says simply with a grin.

"What? When?" I ask curiously.

"Why?" Clary asks incredulously. "I thought he loved being on the force.

Jace and Jon begin explaining what happened while we were gone. How Bat came by, and told them what was going on, and how Jace came up with the idea to bring Bat into the family business with them so he wouldn't leave. How they helped encourage him into leaving the force. All the while, I keep thinking how this is great news, it's definitely a surprise and I can't wait for Clary to give them theirs. This day is constantly getting better and I can't wait to...

 _See they're reactions._

* * *

 **Clary**

"We called Alec and he loved the idea, and even helped us to convince Bat that we weren't bullshitting him, and that it was a perfect idea. Needless to say, Bat agreed and was finally himself when he left." Jace finishes explaining.

"That's great!" I say happily. "Now we're going to need to get an up to date picture of the four of you together so we can swap out the top picture." I say slapping Jace's knee, lightly as I stand up from the coffee table. I open a bag, trying to find the one that has the new ' _Miami Dolphins_ ' gear that we got. It was a must have since the new football season is about to kick off in full swing.

"Is he going to be a partner or just work with y'all?" Izzy asks curiously.

"Partner." Jace and Jon say simultaneously.

"Just like the rest of us." Jon adds.

"Cool beans." Izzy says cheerfully. "And you don't even have to change the name because Bat's family too." She says with certainty.

"Yeah." Jace says with a chuckle.

"Besides, it wouldn't matter if he wasn't because the name has a double meaning." Jon explains simply with a shrug. "The Family Auto Shop also means, it's a place where the whole family can have their vehicle worked on." He explains.

"I know, remember it _was_ mine and Clary's idea." Izzy says dramatically.

The others continue their conversation as I look inside another bag, and start thinking about the ad. _Where to add Bat's specialty?_ I ask myself. I don't want to put it at the bottom of the list, and it can't be the first thing cause a potential customer might see it and think that's all they do at the shop. Ah ha, I know right where to add it.

 **The Family Auto Shop Family Owned and Operated All Our Technicians are ASE Certified Your one stop shop, no matter what your needs are.**

 **We offer a selection of things including but not limited to: Computer Diagnostic, Motor and Transmission, Tune-Ups, Brakes and Alignments, Suspensions, Diesels, Welding, Lifts, Custom Paint and Body Work Major and Minor**

 **No job is to big or to small. We will get you back up and running in no time with satisfaction guaranteed.**

I think it works perfectly there, I just have to remember to do that before I go to bed. Now where in the hell did the bag I'm looking for go. I open yet another bag and as if on cue, ta da there it is.

"Here, Iz." I say looking up at her. She's still sitting on the coffee table looking between Jon and Jace that are now quite. I wonder when that happened, or even what's going on. She looks over at me and I toss her, her aqua tank top that has orange hems with orange writing that reads 'ROLL WITH' and below it is the Dolphins logo, down the front.

"Uh, where's mine?" Jon asks in a whinny voice as he acts like I broke his heart by covering it with his right hand.

I roll my eyes playfully. "You're such a baby." I tell him with a laugh.

"She's got you there." Jace teases with a chuckle.

"Here." I say in laughter as I throw Jon and Jace each a tank top that matches Izzy's. "We got all us Dolphins' fans one."

"Yeah, we weren't buying no ponies or stinkers for the other two." Izzy says jokingly with a laugh. "It's against the code." She says decisively.

I pull mine, Alec's, and Bat's tank tops out and drop them on the table. "Oh and there's this too." I say nonchalantly. Izzy smiles slyly at me as I begin pulling the last thing from the bag.

Izzy and me look directly at the guys. Once I have it revealed, Jon and Jace look like they're in shock as they stare at it.

I clear my throat after what feels like minutes but I know has only been one, tops. "Well?" I ask hesitantly.

"Who's?" Jon asks curiously almost whispering.

"Jace's." Izzy replies simply.

I look over at her in disbelief and shake my head at her. Then I look back over at the guys, Jace looks like he has gone further into shock. I stare straight into his golden eyes, willing him to say something, anything.

"Mine?" He asks, his voice cracking.

"No, Jon's." I say simply.

"Mine?" Jon asks in confusion. "But, Izzy said Jace's." He protest.

Izzy stands beside me, and hooks her right arm around my left arm. The two of us exchange knowing looks, nod, and then turn back to the guys. For two very intelligent guys they sure are taking forever at...

 _Figuring this out._

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed today's chapter!**

 **Let me know what you think with a review.**

 **One more chapter to go until High School Sweethearts 2: Surprise, Surprise is over. Until then. MWAH!**

 **Allieanna has a story up called Stuck. You should go check it out.**


	23. Looking Forward

**Jace**

I look from Clary back to the metallic gold picture frame that she's holding, staring at the 'Surprise, Surprise' written across the top and the two pictures it holds. I can't help but wonder. Is this really happening? Are the two pictures for real? Are they pulling a prank on me and Jon?

"One for each of you." Clary says with a sigh. I look at her baffled and she groans. "We're both pregnant." She explains as she motions between herself and Izzy with her right hand.

"Seriously? No joke?" I ask skeptically, double checking that I just heard her correctly before I react.

"Yes." Clary and Izzy say simultaneously.

"Just like our mommas." Izzy adds proudly.

I jump up off the couch and step on the coffee table to get to them. I wrap them both up in a hug.

"This is great!" I say excitedly, hugging them both. I pull back, far enough that I can look at their faces. "When? How far? How didn't-"

"No more drinking." Jon says seriously as he cuts me off, mid-ramble of questions.

"We know." Izzy says dramatically as she rolls her eyes, just as Jon walks up behind the girls and wraps them in a big hug, pulling me in with them.

Jon let's us go. "No, no more drinking in the house at all." Jon says sternly.

"That's going a bit to far." Clary says with a laugh. "Just because me and Izzy are pregnant doesn't mean you guys can't drink still." She says insistently.

"Won't it hurt the babies?" Jon asks dumbfounded. In his defense, it has been a long, long time since there was anybody pregnant; at least as far as he knew at the time. The last time anybody close to us was pregnant, that he knew of, was Max.

"Only if you're the one carrying the baby." Izzy says with a chuckle. "Besides we can drink if we want, just not a lot and even that's not really recommended, but that doesn't mean that we are going to, though." She says matter-of-factly.

"Alright but we need to be supportive, and if you two can't drink, we shouldn't either." Jon says with certainty.

"Awh, that's sweet Jonny." Izzy says as she wraps her arms around his neck. She kisses his cheek. "But you can still have a cold one whenever you want."

I wrap my arms around Clary's waist. "Okay, so how far?" I ask sweetly while smiling as I look at her beautiful face and, getting back to the more important issue.

"Doctor said that, as of today, I'm five weeks and six days, and Izzy's five weeks and five days." Clary says with a smile.

"Wow! We knocked it out the park back to back." Jon says jokingly with a laugh.

We all laugh and I shake my head at him, slightly.

"Wait a minute, you know what this means don't you?" I ask knowingly.

"What?" The three asks simultaneously.

"That Alec was right." I say nonchalantly. They all look at me in confusion. "A couple of weeks back, when he asked the girls if they were pregnant." I explain.

"Oh yeah! I remember that." Jon says in amusement.

"I didn't even think of that." Izzy admits.

"Me either, and it means your mom was too." Clary says nonchalantly. She shakes her head as if she just realized something else. "It also explains my dreams with you always holding something in your arms that I never get the chance to see cause I wake up."

"I know you told me you were having crazy dreams, but you never told me about that." I say with a little disbelief.

"You didn't tell me that either." Izzy says sounding a little hurt. She pauses. "Well, you did that once."

"I'm still trying to figure out how you two didn't know you were pregnant." Jon says confusedly, interrupting the current conversation and bringing us back to what's going on now.

"I thought it was stress, again." Clary informs him, simply as she shrugs.

"That's what I thought it was or even my birth control." Izzy admits.

"Oh." Jon says simply. "Well I guess it's a good thing that y'all went and seen the doctor today then, or we may have never known until y'all started showing." He teases.

"Oh shut up, Jonny." Clary says with a laugh.

"Alright sooo.. when our the mini me's suppose to make their debut?" I ask eagerly. I want to know, no need to know, when our newest additions are going to get here.

"May sixth and May fifth." Izzy answers happily.

"Hell yeah!" I say enthusiastically. "Our rugrats will grow up together and always have somebody to play with."

"When will we be able to find out boy or girl?" Jon asks curiously.

"Early November is the earliest they'll be able to tell." Clary says with a large grin on her face.

"Well, I want a boy first." Jon says excitedly.

"I just want a healthy baby." I say proudly with certainty.

"Are we going to use one room or two for the nursery? Which room or rooms are we going to use?" Jon asks in a rush of excitement. "We've got a lot to get done and not enough time to do it." He says beginning to panic a little.

"Dude, chill. We've got plenty of time for all of that." I say reassuringly with a slight laugh. I'm excited too, thrilled even, but we have until the beginning of May, and we won't even know boy or girl, or both, or girls, or boys until at least November.

Oh, I can't believe this. I'm going to be a daddy **,** again! I'm also going to be an uncle! How great is that?! I'm going to have two little people running around, and looking up to me. If I'm honest with myself it's a little scary, but it's also exciting at the same time. And the excitement definitely out ways the scary though. Oh, this is going to be freaking awesome! We can all teach them so much. Like how to throw a football, shoot a basketball, hit a baseball, and to fight so that they will always be able to protect themselves; and that's just to name a few things.

This really is _great_! Me and Clary are getting married in November, our baby will be here in May, I'll become an uncle around the same time, and the shop will be up and running in no time. I don't know how life can get any sweeter than this, but...

 _I'm looking forward to finding out._

* * *

 **Clary**

Me, Jace, Izzy, and Jon have been sitting on the couch talking about the babies for at least thirty minutes now. We've talked about using the room that's beside mine and Jace's, and across from Jon and Izzy's, as the nursery for both babies. When Izzy started talking to me about what colors we were going to be painting it, we were told no by the guys. They said we could pick the colors but they were going to be the ones painting it. Then Jace asked when our next doctors appointment was, and I told him it was in four weeks. That was when him and Jon decided that they were going to be at every one of them. The guys and Izzy are already talking about names, and Jon keeps insisting that his and Izzy's baby is a boy. Honestly, I think it's to early to be discussing names and the nursery. We're still in the first trimester which means anything could happen, and I don't want to get my hopes up, again. I mean, I'm thrilled about being pregnant, especially after seeing their reactions. I just don't want to start running out and buying things, and all that other good stuff; at least not yet. I want to know boy or girl before I do any of that.

"Okay, that's enough baby talk for now." Jon says decisively, as he slaps his legs and stands up. "You two haven't eaten any dinner yet, so stay parked on the couch and relax. We'll go fix y'all something."

"You better watch it, we might get spoiled and start expecting that all the time." I say jokingly.

"Fine by me." Jace says seriously in a happy tone. "What about you?" He asks looking at Jon. He places a kiss on the side of my head and stands up.

"I'm all for spoiling them." Jon says with certainty in a cheerful tone. "So, what do y'all want? Or should I ask what do the babies want?" He asks teasingly as he looks back and forth between me and Izzy.

Izzy nudges my right arm. "A big, fat, juicy, steak." She says dramatically.

"And some corn with homemade mashed potatoes." I say nonchalantly while trying to keep myself from smiling.

"And gravy." Izzy adds.

"Are you two serious?" Jace asks calmly yet suspiciously with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes." Izzy says with a laugh.

Jon rolls his eyes playfully. "No you're not." He says certainly with a smile as he raises both of his eyebrows. "You're just trying to pull a fast one on us, to see if we'll really make all of that."

I knew Izzy laughing was going to give us away.

"What if we're not?" I ask casually with a smirk. "Would you really make it?" I ask curiously.

"Then we'd make it." Jace says reassuringly.

"Awwhhh." Izzy says teasingly, but I know she's really touched by what he said.

"That's really sweet and all, but seriously, we just want some of the pizza that we brought in." I say sweetly.

"Seriously? That's all y'all want?" Jace asks in disbelief.

"Maybe a small salad to go with it." Izzy says simply.

"I think we can handle that." Jace says lovingly. "Come on Jon, let's go get these women of ours some food."

"Alright." Jon says agreeingly.

With that, I watch as the two of them head towards the kitchen. Once they're out the room, I look over at Izzy. She's smiling her beautiful smile that goes from ear to ear and staring at the same entry way that the guys just went through.

She looks over at me. "Guess, we were worried for nothing." She says still grinning.

"Looks that way." I say in agreement.

"Wanna watch some television while we wait for our grub?" She asks nonchalantly.

"Sure." I say simply. I lean forward, grab the remote off the coffee table and sit back. The two of us snuggle up together on the couch and put our heads against each others, just as I turn on the television. "So, what do you want to watch?"

"I don't know." She says with a sigh. "But I know we'll find something good on."

I pull up the guide and start searching for something worth watching. _Izzy was right_. I think to myself as I come across the beginning of the original version of ' _Footloose_ ' and push select. Me and Izzy start singing and moving our feet to the beat. We absolutely _love_ this movie! The new one is alright, but the original is ten times better and Kevin Bacon is so much hotter than Kenny Wormald. The song ends and my mind starts to wander.

The revealing of the family additions definitely went better than I thought it was going to. I was so nervous and worried about how Jace and Jon would react, that I was honestly expecting the worse. I'm not completely sure why, though. Jace handled the news the first time really well, but Jon was a different story. I knew he'd be happy for me and supportive, he always is, but this involved him too and on a whole new level. I think it's mainly because it won't just be one baby but two, and the fact that they're trying to get the business going and we have weddings to plan still, not to mention that Izzy still has school to go to - good thing this is her last year - and I've got my online classes, too. Needless to say, we are going to be some very busy people for a while, but I'm actually looking forward to it and...

 _I'm excited to see what is still yet to come._

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this last chapter!**

 **That's right this story is over, but there will be a High School Sweethearts 3. I have a lot planned for it. However, I will be taking a little break since my kids' summer Superhero program is over and school doesn't start for a month. I also have to get it plotted out before I begin writing it. I have been thinking of starting on at least one other story that I've had planned since before the first High School Sweethearts, also. I'm not sure which will come first, though.**

 **As always, let me know what you thought with a review! And even some suggestions for what you'd like to see in story three, even anything you'd like to see me write that doesn't pertain to this one. I have loads of ideas for not only a three but for other stories as well, but I'd really like to know what you would like to read.**

 **Thank you all for reading! You're great! And to those that would leave reviews, I really loved reading them! Until next time. MWAH!**

* * *

 **Sweet Redemption's chapter three is up! So run over to Mrs Jace Wayland-Herondale page to read it. I think it may be the best chapter that we've come up with, so far. It will only get better! Also, The Significance of Numbers new chapter is up, so check it out! This morning, we were talking about the next chapter for it, and were up until after 3 a.m. discussing chapter 4 of Sweet Redemption. Both stories are going to blow your minds! _Maybe_ , that pun was intended but then again, _maybe_ not. You'll have to read to find out though. **

**Also, Allieanna has her story 'Stuck' up and chapter two will most likely be up before next week is over. So, if you haven't read it yet, check it out. Note to Allieanna: Get me chapter three already, lol. Mwah!**

* * *

 **Ok, I'm going to end this long freaking author's note and go spend time with my rotten kiddos, and maybe even catch up on my own reading. I got a couple of new books in the mail that I need to read. Alright, one's a graphic novel or comic book! But I don't care what anybody thinks because I grew up reading comics. Plus, I know there are some of you that have stories that I need to read.**

 **reppinda5o3: I'm hoping to finally get to read yours. I'm sorry that I haven't already. But with my kid, life, and everything I just haven't had the chance, _yet_.**

* * *

 **You all don't do anything I wouldn't do, and I look forward to reading your reviews or private messages.**


	24. Not Another Chapter

Just to let those that don't already know, Chapter 1 of High School Sweethearts 3 was posted yesterday. I hope if you haven't already, that you shoot on over there and read it. Mwah!


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